YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

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Cj^f ^^afelugt ^ocittu*

THE COMMENTARIES OF THE GREAT
AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE.

Portrait of affonco de Albuquerque,
from the edition of i774-.

THE
COMMENTARIES OF THE GREAT
AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE,
SECOND VICEROY OF INDIA.

TBAlfSLATBD FBOM THB
PORTUGUESE EDITION OF 17 7 4,
aJEttt i^otea anH an Inttolmctt0n,
BY
WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, F.R.S.L.,
SENIOR A8BI&TA.NT OF TBE DEFABTMENT OF HAN0SCBIFTS IN THE BBITISH
HDSEtIKi HOHOBART I.IB&AHI&IT OF TBB ROTAL SOCIBTT 07
I.ITERATURB; HOMOBART 6BURETARY OF THB BBITISH
ABCH£0L0OICAL ASSOCIATION ETC.
VOL. II.

' TJt, quantum ad cognitionem pertinet rerum, etiam praeteritis saeculia vixisae
videamur."— QtriiTTiLiAif, Inaiit. Orator., xii, 4.

BURT FRANKLIN, PUBLISHER
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Published by
BURT FRANKLIN
514 West 113th Street
New York 25, N. Y.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BV THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY

REPRINTED BY PERMISSION

COUNCIL

THB HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

a.s.)

The Right How, Sir DAVID DUNDAS, PEEsiDEifT.
Admieal C. R. drinkwater BETHUNE, C.B. }¦ Vioe-Fbesidents.
Majob-Gekebai Sib HENRY RAWLINSON, K.CB., F.H.T
W. A. TYSSEN AMHURST, Bs«.
Bev. De. G. P. BADGER., D.C.L., F.R.G.S.
J. BARROW, Esq., F.R.S.
Vioe-Admibal Sir RICHARD COLLINSON, K.C.B.
Captaiit CRUTTBNDEN.
EGERTON V. HARCOURT, Esq.
CHARLES GREY, Esq.
JOHN WINTER JONES, Esq., F.S.A.
R. H. MAJOR, Esq., F.S.A.
SiB CHARLES NICHOLSON, Bart., D.C.L.
Vice-Admibal ERASMUS OMMANNEY, O.B., F.R.S.
Captain POBCHER, R.N.
The Lord STANLEY of Alderley.
EDWARD THOMAS, Esq., F.H.S.
CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, CB., F.R.S., Sec.R.G.S., Honorary Secretary.

LIST OF CONTENTS.

Portrait op Afonso Dalboquerque, prom the Edition
of 1774 . . Frontispiece
Preface . i
Chronology of Part II . cxxiv

Title to the Edition of 1774 — Part II . . cxxvii
Titles of the Chapters contained in the Second
Part . cxxix

Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque — Part II 1-242
'¦'¦Reply of the Great Afonso Dalbuguerque tu Ldnrengo
de Brito" 14
" The Instructions which Fr. Luis carried" 74
"0/ the Province of Malabar, and of some Custom-^ ¦'
which the People of Malabar practise" I'l
" Of the Site and Foundation of the City of Ciod' 92
^'Letter ivhich the great Afonso DaUmqaerqne lerak,
aad sent hy Ruy Gomez to the Xcquc hiiiael" 111
" Itistrucfions which the great Afoiisv IMWocjuerquc gave
to Ruy Gomez, cunccriiiiig that which he ira.'< to say
l<i Ihe Xeqnc Ismael" . ¦ 114

CONTPJNTS .
^Letter which the great .\foiiso Dalboquerque wrote to
the King of Ormuz" . 119
'Letter from Gopicaiga, Chief Alguazil of the King of
Cambaya, to the great Afonso Dalboquerque" 212
' Letter from the great Afonso Dalboquerque to the Chief
Alguazil of the King of Caynbaya" . . 215
'I^etter of the great Afonso Dalboquerque to Timoja'' 227

Map of India, from the Portolano of Fernao Vaz Dourado,
aire. 1670 . . 1
Poutrait op Dom Fhanqisco Dalmeida, First Viceroy
OP India, from MS. Sloane, 197, folio 9 . 48
Plan of Goa, from the same MS., folio 248 88

INTRODUCTION.

Por terra jaz o Emporio do Oriente,
Que do rigido Affonso o ferro, o vaio
Ao grao Filho gaiihou do grao Sabaio,
Envergonhando o Deos armipoteute.
Caliio Goa, terror antigamente
Do Naire vao, do perfido Malaio,
De barbarasN'a96es...ah ! que de.smaio
Apaga o Marcio ardor da Lusa Gente.
Oh Seculos de Heroes ! Dias de Gloria !
Varoes excelsos, que, a pezar da Morte,
Vivei.? na tradi5ao, viveis na Historia !
"Albuquerque terrivel, Castro forte",
Menezes, e outros mil, vossa memoria
Vinga as injuri.as, que nos faz a Sorte.
M.VNOEL Maria de B.vebosa du Bocage, Soiieto xxix.

In the Introduction to the first volume of my trans
lation of the Commentaries op the Great Afonso
Dalboquerque, I reserved for a future occasion some
account of the foundation, rise, progress, and decay of
the Portuguese Empire in the Eastern Indies, and
some Bibliographical notes in reference to the Indian
Cycle of Portuguese Literature, because these two
great subjects could hardly be treated with due con
sideration in that volume. In the course of my re
marks upon these points, which must necessarily be
very limited even here, I shall incorporate a brief out-

ii introduction.
line of the exploits of our hero Afonso Dalboquerque,
so far as they are put before the reader now for the
first time in their English form, that is, down to the
first and unsuccessful attack upon the most important
position ever held by the Portuguese in the great
Indian Continent, viz., the fortress and Island of Goa,
and to this I shall add some description of the settle
ment itself, gathered from such works as treat of this
subj ect.
It was not until the final decade of the fifteenth
century that the idea of a fourth quarter of the world,
so long and so extensively prevalent among the an
cients, began to be put to a crucial and practical test,
in place of the visionary theories and unstable conjec
tures which those who had nothing better to adduce
concerning this unseen and unknown world found so
easy to multiply and disseminate. As we all know,
the honour of the first finding belongs to modern
navigators, and mainly, as well as primarily, to the
great Christopher Columbus, whose researches in the
necessary sciences and arts of the sailor led him irre
sistibly, and. with all the greater force because they led
him truly, to believethat the equilibrium of the terrestrial
globe demanded incontrovertibly that there should be
another continent or hemisphere lying to the westward,
and as yet unknown to the civilised world. Of the
discoveries which were the result of this great man's
inductions — discoveries which were not brought about
without an amount of depreciation and obstructiveness
almost amounting to prohibition on the part of others,
nor without self-denial and endurance on his own part

introduction. iu
which would have deterred many from a successful
prosecution of them — there is no need to speak
here, although indirectly they assisted the settlement
of the Portuguese in India, because they stimulated
and confirmed the intense desire for maritime investi
gations which had seized upon so many persons when
they contemplated the good fortune which had at
length attended the labours of doubling the Cape of
Good Hope. I do not pretend to decide whether Colum
bus, who had acquired his skill in navigation among
the Portuguese, and who, therefore, could uot but be
aware of that nation's long meditated design of dis
covering the naval road to India round the African coast,
was, or not, actuated, as some have asserted, by any feel
ing of jealousy with respect to the then nearly discovered
eastern passage to India, and desired to acquire, for a
rival maritime power, a more easy and, as he thought,
a shorter western passage, which had been rejected by
the Portuguese, to the same places. At the very time
that the Spaniards were carrying on their great works
of discovery in the newly-found western hemisphere,
the sister kingdom of Portugal, shut out from any solid
participation in these conquests by the bull of Pope
Alexander VI (who adjudged the countries lying to
the west of an imaginary meridian line at the distance
of four hundred and seventy leagues to the west of
Cape Verd and the Azores to be the rightful possession
of the King of Spain, while those lands only which
when discovered should fall to the eastward of that
great circle should belong to the Portuguese monarch),
was busily engaged in extending her much anterior

iv introduction.
paths of discovery in the very opposite direction,^ al
though Brazil fell, by virtue of accidental discovery in
the year 1500 by the Portuguese commander Alvares
Cabral as well as by the operation of this papal arbitra
ment. In one very important point the springs which actu
ated and the machinery which directed Spanish and
Portuguese maritime discovery and colonial enterprise
differed. The former people, not given to commercial
lines of thought, failed to observe the immense financial
and pohtical advantages which a well organised system
of trade in the natural, nay, spontaneous products of
their newly acquired territories offered to their native
kingdom ; the precious metal alone attracted their at
tention : the accursed greed of gold, solid mountains of
which presented themselves to the over-excited imagin
ations and sanguine temperaments of a people by very
nature prone to irritability and fierce excitements, oc
cupied all their thoughts and prevented them from
more generous and noble actions. Hence arose the
soon exhausted working of mines, the introduction of
foreign, generally negro, labour, the enslaving, persecu
tion, and, finally, extermination of native tribes, the
disastrous effects of which proceedings are felt to this
very day in the American continents.
The Portuguese, on the other hand, were not so
much impelled by the cupidity of gold, as by the ever
increasing desire for commercial intercourse with their
1 In 1497, the year before Columbus made the voyage which
discovered the mouths of the River Oronoko, Vasco da Gama sailed
on his first voyage to- India.

INTRODUCTION. V
newly made subjects : and next to the imposition of a
tribute upon the inhabitants of districts, or petty king
doms, added to the Lusitanian yoke, who were left in
other respects to the free exercise of their own forms
of government, the key-note of all the proceedings of
this European power in the West and in the East, im
mediately upon obtaining a footing in places of ap
parent promise, is the acquisition of a factory — neces
sarily a strong house, fortress, or impregnable castle,
wherein the few who were placed to manage the sales
and purchases might, if necessity should arise, with
draw, for the preservation of their lives against the fury
of whole armies arrayed against them.
Whatever may have been the first impulse which set
men thinking of land beyond the Eastern seas, there is
no doubt that the Portuguese naval expedition fitted out
by Dom Joao I, King of Portugal, against the Moorish
Princes of Africa — with the chivalrous intention of
giving his sons an opportunity of exhibiting their
prowess and dexterity, and of earning knightly honours
— and brought to a successful issue by the capture of
Ceuta in 1415, had such an influence upon one of the
sons of that sovereign, Dom Henrique, Duke of Viseu,
that he encouraged his countrymen in their nascent
tastes for navigation,^ maritime enterprises, and riparial
exploration which had been thus inaugurated in so
1 "Ho had already, in 1412, three years before the reduction
of Ccuta, sent a ship to make discoveries ou the Barbary coast.
Cape Nam, as its name (Xo) implies, was then the ne plus ultra
of European navigation ; the ship sout by Henry, however, passed
it si-xty leagues, and reached Cape Bojador." — MicMe.

vi INTRODUCTION.
auspicious and happy a manner. Mr. Major's exhaus
tive work, entitled " The Life of Prince Henry of Por
tugal, surnamed the Navigator, and its Results 
with new facts in the discovery of the Atlantic Islands",
London, 1868, is so well known and so universally ac
credited, that nothing need be here said respecting this
scientific and enhghtened prince by way of biography,
beyond the fact that he established his abode at Sagrez,
about a league and a half distant from Cape St. Vin
cent, a promontory at the western extremity of the
province of Algarve, in the south of Portugal, and there
ordered ships to be constructed at his own expense,
and doubtless under his own superintendence, to which
he afterwards appointed selected naval adventurers,
who had been invited from all parts for this object, and
despatched them to reconnoitre the far stretching coasts
of the African continent. Hence fell to the genius of
this organisation the practical discovery and colonisa
tion of the islands of Madeira by Juan Gonsalez Zarco
and Tristan Vaz in 1420 ; the Canary Islands in 1424 ;
ceded or abandoned to Spanish claims^ by a treaty in
1481 ; the Azores, discovered in 1449 by Gongalo
Velio, and colonised in 1431 ; and the Cape Verd
Islands in 1460.
These discoveries, although infinitely inferior in point
of value and historical interest to others which this
1 In consequence of the statement that Jean de Bethencourt,
or Jon de Betancour, a native of France, but in the service of the
King of Castile, had in 1402 made a settlement in these islands,
which had originally been discovered, it is said by some Bisoayneers,
about the year 1340. — See "The Canarian", Hakl. Soe, No. xlvi.

INTRODUCTION. vil
Portuguese nation, then in the summit of its splendour
and renown, were so soon about to make, were not
without their uses as incentives to that yearning spirit
of extended journeys by sea which were destined to be
promoted so extensively, and to render illustrious for
ever the names of those who conceived them. For, al
though the reign of Alonzo V witnessed but little real
progress in these discoveries, yet the reign of Joao II
beheld the erection of a fort on the Gold Coast in
1481 ; the assumption of the title " Lord of Guinea"
by the King ; the operations of the Portuguese carried
down to the lowest points of the African mainland ;
the Stormy Cape successfully doubled in 1486 by the
Admiral Diaz ; and the continent of India revealed to
the prowess of Vasco da Gama.
The adventures of Vasco da Gama have afforded to
the Portuguese Virgil, Luiz de Camoes, the theme for
one of the most beautiful epic poems ever written in
any European language. Of prose, and, therefore, more
circumstantial accounts of the hero's doings in those
far off lands, perhaps the best, certainly the most ac
cessible to English readers, is Lord Stanley's " Three
Voyages", published by the Hakluyt Society in 1869,
from the Lendas da India of Gaspar Correa, printed
for the first time by the Lisbon Academy in 1868-63.
This navigator was despatched with the command of a
fleet of three vessels,^ to follow up the mission of the
1 See an illustration of one of them, the San Gabriel, com
manded by Vasco da Gama himself, from an original picture in
Lisbon, formerly in the possession of D. Joao de Castro, in Mr.
W. S. Lindsay's History of Merchant Shipping, vol. ii, page 5.

VIU INTRODUCTION.
two royal equerries, Pedro de Covilham, and Gonsalvo
de Pavia, otherwise called Alonzo de Payva,' whom the
Portuguese King had dispatched secretly to " learn of
many lands, and wander in many parts, because they
knew many languages", for " in the year one thousand
four hundred and eight-four, there came to Portugal
the King of Benin, a Caffre by nation", from whom he
" collected much information about India and its affairs,
for he was very desirous to learn with much certainty
that the King of it was Prester John, who was a
Christian and the lord of great riches. Which in
formation produced so great an impression upon the
King's heart, that he became possessed with an earnest
resolve to send and learn about and discover India."
We may safely leave the narrative of Vasco da Gama
to the great poet of his own nation ; and the reader
who prefers them in an English form may gather some,
even though faint, idea of style of the subject through
the medium of the translations of quaint Fanshaw and
Quillinan, or pompous Mickle. These, and Lord Stan
ley's Correa, in addition to a very excellent resume
in the second volume of Mr. Lindsay's Merchant
Shipping, I fear must take the place of the old Portu
guese historians whose works yet await translation
into English. The main points in the " First Voyage
of Vasco da Gama" may be taken succinctly thus, ac
cording to Correa :— He sails from Lisbon on the 25th
of March, 1497, and, after a voyage of nearly flve
months, arrives at St. Helena Bay on the 18th of
August, doubles the Cape, and enters rivers on the
Eastern Coast in November, and sights the coast of

INTRODUCTION. IX
Natal on the 25th of December in the same year. Ia
the early part of January, he enters the Bio dos Reis
or Mercy River, where he stays a month to careen
his ships, and one of them commanded by Nicohis
Coelho was broken up. The two remaining vessels
reached Mozambique at the end of March, where they
remained for a space of about three weeks, leaving
that country on Sunday, the Sth or 15th of April.
The expedition reached Mombasa on the 21st, and
Melinde on the 29th of the same month ; and, after a
long stay of three months, set sail and sighted the coast
of India, at the Monte Dely, or Delielly, Rat Mountain,
near Cananor, on the 26th of August. The first place
on the Indian mainland touched by these navigators
was Calicut, where they remained for seventy days,
and from thence made their way to Cananor, Angediva,
and Melinde, the latter place being reached on the Sth
of January, 1499, marking the limit of the first voyage.
The homeward journey commenced with the setting-
out from Melinde on the 20th of January ; in it oc
curred the melancholy death of Paulo da Gama, the
brother of Vasco da Gama, and Captain of the second
ship, the Sarn Raphael, and his burial at Terceira in
the Azores at the end of August ; and ends with the
arrival at Lisbon on the ISth of September.
The incident of doubling the Cape of Good Hope —
an incident of lasting honour to his nation — afforded
to Camoes an opportunity of introducing into the fifth
canto of his Epic one of the finest passages to be met
with in the whole cycle of Portuguese literature. I
shall therefore venture, without any fear of wasting

X INTRODUCTION.
space in these pages, to introduce portions of the
passage, in supjDort of remarks, upon the value of study
ing the language, which I have made in my Introduc
tion to the first volume. 37.
Por^m ji cinco sees eram passados,
Que dalli nos partiramos, cortando
Os mares nunca d'outrem navcgados,
Prosperamente os ventos assoprando :
Quando huma noite estando dcscuidados
Na cortadora proa vigiando,
Huma nuvem, que os ares es^urece,
Sobi-e uossas cabegas apparece. 38.
Tao temerosa vinha, e carregada.
Que poz nos coragoes hum grande medo,
Bramindo o negro mar de longe brada,
Como se d6sse em vao n'algum rochedo.
O ! Potestade, disse, s'lblimada !
Que ameago divino, ou que segredo
Este clima, e este mar uos apresenta,
Que mor cousa parece, que tormenta?
39.
Nao acabava, quando huma figura
Se nos mostra no ar, robusta e valida,
De disforme e grandissima estatura,
0 rosto carregado, a barba esqualida,
Os olhos encovados, e a postura
Medonha e ma, e a cor terrena e pallida,
Cheios de terra e crespos os cabellos,
A boca negra, os dentes amarellos.
40.
Tao grande era de membros, que bem posso
Certificar-te, que este era o segundo
De Rhodes estranhissimo colosso,
Que hum dos sete milagres foi do mundo :

INTRODUCTION.
Chum tom de voz nos falla horrendo e grosso.
Que parece sahir do mar profundo :
Arrepiam-se as carnes, e o cabello
A mi, e a todos, so de ouvi-lo e ve-lo.
41.
E disse : 0 ! gente ousada mais que quantas
No mundo commetteram grandes cousas,
Tu, que por guerras cruas, taes e tantas,
E por trabalhos vaos nunca repousas :
Pois OS vedados terminos quebrantas,
E navegar meus longos mares ousas.
Que eu tanto tempo ha ja que guardo, e tenho,
Nunca arados d'estranho, du proprio leuho :
42.
Pois vens ver os segredos escondidos
Da natureza, e do humido elemento,
A neuhum grande humane concedidos
De nobre ou de immortal merecimento ;
Ouve os damnos de mi, que apercibidos
Estao a teu sobejo atrevimento
Por todo 0 largo mar, e pela terra,
Que inda has de sobjugar com dura guerra.
43.
Sabe, que quantas naos esta viagem.
Que tu fazes, fizerem de atrevidas
Inimiga terao esta paragem.
Com ventos, e tormentas desmedidas :
E da primeira armada, que passagem
Fizer por estas ondas insoffridas,
Eu farei d'improviso tal castigo.
Que seja mor o damno, que o perigo.
* * * *
50.
Eu sou aquelle occulto e grande Cabo,
A quem chamais vos outros Tormentorio,
Que nunca a Ptolomeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,
Plinio, e quantos passaram, fui notorio :
Aqui toda a Africana costa acabo
Neste meu nunca vista promontorio.

xii INTRODUCTION.
Que para o polo Antarctico se estende
A quem vossa ousadia tauto offende.
51.
Fui dos filhos asperrimos da terra,
(^ual Encelado, Egeo, e o Centimano :
Chamei-me Adamastor, e fai na guerra
Contra o que vibra os raios de Vulcano ;
Nao que puzesse serra sobre serra ;
Mas, conquistando as ondas do Oceano,
Fui capitao do mar, por onde andava
A armada de Neptuno, que eu buscava.
52.
Amores da alta esposa de Peleo
Me fizeram tomar tamanha empreza,
Todas as deo.sas desprezei do ceo,
So por amar das agoas a princeza :
Hum dia a vi co'as filhas de Nereo
Sahir nua na praia ; e logo preza
A vontade senti de tal maneira,
Que inda nao sinto cousa, que mais queira.
* * * ^
56.
Oil que nao sei de nojo como o conte !
Que, crendo ter nos bragos quem amava,
Abra^ado me achei c'hum duro monte
De asporo mate, e de espessura brava :
Estando c'hum peuedo fronte a fronte,
Que eu pelo rosto angelico apertava,
Nao fiquei homen nao, mas mudo e quedo,
E junto d'hum penedo ontro penedo.
* * * *
69.
Converte-se-me a carne em terra dura,
Em penedos os ossos se fizeram,
Estes membros que ves, e esta figura
Por estas longas agoas se estenderam :
Em fim, miuha grandissima estatura
Neste remoto cabo convoi-terani

INTRODUCTION. XIU

Os deoses ; e, por mais dobradas magoas,
ile anda Thetis cercando destas agoas.

37.
Five suns since we departed thence had set,
And smoothly wafted by a prosperous gale
We cleaved the seas where never nation yet
But ours had urged the exploratory sail;
When, as we watch'd one night, and not a threat
Of change disturb'd us, sure that all was well,
A cloud from overhead its shadow cast,
And densely lowering brooded o'er the mast.
38.
So heavily it gloom'd athwart our board,
A solemn fear to every heart it struck,
While from afar the blacken'd ocean roar'd
As if in thunder bursting on a rock.
" Oh what is this?" I cried, "Almighty Lord !
What threat divine 1 What new mysterious shock
Portend these howling waves, this sea difForm ?
For this is something greater than a storm !"
39.
While yet I spoke, what shape before us grew t
A mighty phantom in the air appear'd.
Uncouth, enormous, horrible to view.
With savage front and squalid length of beard.
And cavern'd eyes, and haggard earthly hue.
And evil scowl of thing that would be fear'd :
His tangled locks were thick with saud aud slime.
And clots of ooze his hideous mouth begrime.
40.
So huge was he of limb, that I may swear
His bulk by that Colossus unsurpast
Which brought to Rhodes the wise of Greece, to stare
At one of earth's seven wonders. All aghast
We heard his voice that rent the trembling air,
A voice which seem'd from the abyss upcast :

xiv INTRODUC riON.
To see, to hear, this monster ou the deep,
Made the hair bristle and the flesh to creep.
41.
" 0 race the most audacious !" thus he spake—
" The world for measureless ambition knows,
You that for cruel warfare, and the sake
Of vain adventures ever shun repose ;
Since those forbidden boundaries ye break,
And press along my seas your daring prows.
Seas by no keel for many a cycle plough'd.
So long 'twas mine to guard them and to s'uioud ;
42.
" Since you are come to pierce the depths conceal'd
Of Nature, and the secrets of a tide
To mortal heroes never yet reveal'd.
Not even to those for prowess deified ; —
Hear, then, from me the woes (^u flood and field
Prepared to scourge your rashness, aud tlie pride
Of triumphs ye must reach with desperate hand.
For horror waits you both on sea and land.
43.
" Know that whatever ships hereafter brave,
Like yours, these fatal latitudes, shall fiud
A fierce antagonist in every wave,
A raging enemy in every wind.
And the first warlike force these waters lave
To it, on rough and boist'rous route inclined —
By me shall sudden punishment be dealt —
More than the danger shall the loss be felt.
* * * *
50.
" The Spirit of yon haughty cliff am I,
Called Cape of Storm by your precursor bold ;
A headland in impassive mystery.
Enshrouded from geographers of old.
Here end the Afric shores that nearest lie
Unto the pole Antarctic, — shores controll'd
By that, my mountain throne so long occult,
Which you in your audacity insult.

INTRODUCTION. XV
51.
" My name was Adamastor ; I was one
Of those gigantic brothers, born of Earth,
As vast ^geon and Enceladon,
Who against the Lord of Thunder tried their worth
In battle ; they Heaven's fortress would have won.
By piling hill on hill ; but I went forth
To be their chamj .on on the Ocean-plain,
And challenge Neptune on his own domain.
52.
" By love for Peleus' spouse, my fated scourge,
Was I to this wild enterprise suborn'd ;
For her, the radiant Princess of the surge,
The goddesses of all the heaven I scorn'd.
One day I saw her from the wave emerge.
In nought but her own loveliness adorn'd,
Attended by the Nereids : from that hour
I felt — aud yet I feel — her fatal power.
* * * *
56.
" Oh, how can I record my vile disgrrxe 1
I found, instead of her whom I adore,
A crag encircled iu my wild embrace,
A thorny cliff" outstaudiug on the shore :
This was my prize angelic, face to face
I grappled with a mountain ! Man uo more,
But mute aud passive, senseless with the shock
I stood, another rock against a rook.
* * * *
59.
" My living flesh obdurate earth became,
My bones a hard inexorable heap ;
Head, trunk, and limbs, yet conscious to the sliame,
A wall of rock, a wide aud towering steep.
What once was Adamastor's giant frame
Is uow the Storm-Cape, glooming o'er the deep ;
So will'd the gods, and to torment me more.
The waves of Thetis dance about ray shore."
JUdw. Quillinan, 1853.

xvi INTRODUCTION.
The Additional MS. 20,902 in the British Museum,
which is entitled " Relagao das N4os e Armadas da
India, Com os successos dellas, que se puderam saber,
para Noticia e instrucgao dos Curiozos, e araautes da
Historia da India," and was formerly in the possession
of Lord Stuart de Rothesay, affords us a very succinct
account of the first voyage of Dom Vasco da Gama ;
 this I give here in a literal translation, because it
evidently incorporates into one historical sequence,
and summarises, the principal events related in detail
and at length by the Portuguese historians :—
"VASCO DA GAMA, CHIEF CAPTAIN, 1497.
"On' the second of June, 1497, there set out from
Lisbon, in order to discover Oriental India, Vasco da
Gama (the eldest son of Estevao da Gama, who was
Comptroller (veador) of the household of the King
Dom Affonso the Fifth, and of Dona Isabel Sodre, his
wife), as chief captain of four ships ; himself in tbe
Sao Raphael; Paulo da Gama, his second brother,
' A marginal note in this manuscript says : " Another relation
states that there set forth on the 8th of July Va[s]co da Gama in
the ship S. Gabriel; Paulo da Gama, his brother, iu the S. Raphael;
Niculio Coelho in the ship Berrio ; Gonqalo Nunes in a ship with
supplies ; and that the people of this ship of Gongalo Nunes, aud
the supplies which she carried, after having passed the Cape of
Good Hope, beyond the Agoada of S. Bras, were divided by the
others of the company ; and after she had been stripped they set
fire to her; and that Paulo da Gama's ship, returning to Portugal,
went aground ou the shallows between Quiloa and MombaQa, which
are called [the shallows] of S. Raphael, on account of the ship,
which was so named, and that the people were distributed between
the two others ofthe company."

INTKODUCTTON. Xvii
in the Sao Gabriel; NicoUo Coelho in the Sao
Miguel. Gonpalo Nunes was captain of a ship with
supplies which, before reaching the Cape of Good
Hope, they stowed away in the vessels, and he re
turned to this kingdom [of Portugal.] And the
vessel S. Gabriel, wherein went Paulo da Gama, was
taken to pieces to repair the others, because she was
very much shaken, and could not continue her voyage
in a river which is in the Cafre land beyond the Cape
of Good Hope, that was named the River of Mercy ;
and Paulo da Gama was transferred to the ship of his
brother, and the men were divided between the two,
and thence they set out to follow up their voyage.
And being at anchor at Mogambique, where the
Xeque endeavoured to seize their ships by treachery,
they disembarked on the Island of Sao Jorge, where
the first mass on the further side of the Cape of Good
Hope was celebrated. Thence they went to Quiloa
and Mombaga, and the kings of all these islands
endeavoured to treat them treacherously, but God
suffered nothing thereof to take effect ; and so to
Melinde, where the King received them faithfully,
and gave them pilots in whom they could trust, and
these led them to Angediva, where they fought with
the fustas of the Sabayo, Lord of Goa, over whom they
obtained the victory. And from that place they pro
ceeded to Calicut, where the Samory planned much
treachery against them that did not take effect.
Thence they went to Coghim, where they were well
received by the king, and in Cananor in the same
manner, where they completed the lading of the two

xviii INTRODUCTION.
vessels and returned to this kingdom, and arrived at
Lisbon in safety on the 18th of September, 1499.
Paulo da Gama died of infirmity in the Island
of Terceira, in the city of Angra ; he is buried there
in the "convent of Sao Francisco of the same city."
In continuation of this circumstantial account of
the yearly naval expeditions of Portugal to the
East, the same MS. relates the next proceedings as
follows : —
"PEDRALVARES CABRAL, CHIEF CAPTAIN, 1500.
" Pedralvares Cabral set' out as chief captain of
thirteen ships on the 9th of March, 1500. Captains,
Sancho de Thoar, who on returning to Portugal was
1 The marginal note says : — " Another relation states that the
captains who set out with the chief captain were : Sancho de Tear,
Simam de Miranda, Ayres Gomes da Silva (lost in a storm),
Niculao Coelho, Nuno Leitam, Vasco de Atayde (lost in a storm),
Bertolameu Dias (lost in a storm), Pero Dias his brother, Gaspar
de Lemos, Luis Pires, Simao de Pina (lost in a storm), Pero de
Atayde. And in the events which it narrates concerning the fleet,
it states: — The tempest whereby the four ships mentioned above
were lost, struck them iu the crossing (travessa) to Brazil on their
way to the Cape of Good Hope, whereby the ship of Simam de
Miranda struck against that of Pero Alvarez Cabral, but miracu
lously was saved ; aud by reason of the same tempest Pero Dias
^^as separated from the company ofthe others, and made his way
to Magadaxo, hard by the Cape of Guardafuy, aud ou his
return he met with Pedro Alvarez at Cape Verde, and Luis Pires
arrived at Portugal ; Sancho de Tear, on the return voyage to
Portugal, was wrecked, by a high wind blowing dead against him,
on a bank near the coast of Melinde, and after saving all his people,
the ship was set on fire. Gaspar de Lemos returned from Santa
Cruz, the land of Brasil, to this kingdom with the news of its dis
covery.''

INTRODUCTION. X)X
wrecked on a bank close to Quiloa, but he saved
himself, with all his company and cargo ; Simao de
Miranda de Azevedo, Bras Matoso, Vasco de Attajde,
were wrecked by a storm on the islands which were
afterwards named those of Tristao da Cunha ; Nuno
Leitao da Cunha, Simao de Pina, NicoMo Coelho, Pero
de Figueiredo, Bartholameo Dias (who was also lost),
Diogo Dias, Luiz Pi[re]z, Gaspar de Lemos, Andre
G[on5a]l[ve]z, who returned to the kingdom with six
ships, namely, one which he took from Brazil, and five
which he carried in his company, and the others were lost.
" This fleet discovered Brazil on the third of May,
the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sancta
Cruz), and for this reason they applied that same
name to aU that land. And in the same [year] facto
ries were established in Cananor, Calicut, and in
Coghim, and officers were stationed in all of these
places, except in Calicut, for in a tumult there the
[people] killed the Factor Aires Correa, although the
chief captain was there.
"And this fleet discovered Sophala, and the war
continued to rage in Calicut ; and in this fleet there
went eight friars of Sao Frangisco, who were the flrst
religious that passed over to India ; and for their
custodian there went Frey Henrique, who was after
wards Bishop of Seita, chief inquisitor of this kingdom,
and Archbishop of Bragua.
"Of these friars two suffered martyrdom in the
rebellion at Calicut."
Encouraged by these discoveries, and nothing

XX INTEODUCTION.
daunted by the destruction which the winds and
waves had exercised upon this large fleet, the Portu
guese rapidly fitted out a new squadron of navigators,
who eagerly set upon the work of prosecuting their
voyages into unknown quarters ; and accordingly we
flnd the following mention, in the same manuscript, of —
"JOAO DA NOVA, CHIEF CAPTAIN, 1501.
" Joao^ da Nova, chief captain of four ships, set out
on the 15th of March ; Captains, Francisco de Novais,
Fernao Pacheco, Misser Vineto, a Florentine : he re
turned to the kingdom with all his ships safely, and
discovered, on his coming back, the Island of St. Illena,^
which is in sixteen degrees south latitude, and on
going out, the island which is called Joao da Nova,'
which is in front of Mogambique."
The next year witnessed redoubled activity in the
naval enterprise of the Portuguese, the principal event
being the second voyage of Vasco da Gama to India
in 1502, with a fleet of fifteen vessels, which, after
having arrived safely at Mozambique, touched at
1 The marginal comment relates: — "Another account reads as
follows. The chief captain, Joao da Nova, Alcaide of Lisboa;
Diogo Barboza, Griado of Dom Alvaro, brother of the Duke of Bar-
ganga ; Frangisco de Navaes ; Fernam Vinet, a Florentine ; and
says that while they were in 8 degrees south latitude, they found
au island which they named Conceigao {Conception Island, now
Ascension Island, 7 deg. 57 min. S. lat., 14 deg. 28 min. W.), and
on returning to the kingdom they found that oi St. Elena."
2 St. Helena, 16 deg. S., 5 deg. 38 min. W.
3 Juan de Nova Island, in the Mozambique Channel, 17 deg. 10
min. S., 42 deg. 54 min. E.

INTRODUCTION. Xxi
Quiloa in July, and visited Melinde, Onor, Baticala,
and Cananor. On the way to the last-mentioned
place a horrid butchery of Moors, who were captured
in a large ship of Calicut, coming from Mekkah to
Mount Dely,^ was carried out under the orders of the
chief captain, Vasco da Gama himself.^ This and other
somewhat similar occurrences tarnish the bright shield
of glory which that intrepid discoverer richly merits,
and calls forth from Mr. Lindsay a well-timed indig
nation when he says, " Although' the first voyage of
Da Gama may be read with satisfaction, no language
can be found sufficiently strong to denounce his subse
quent career, and especially his diabolical conduct
towards the Moors and natives on his second expedi
tion to India. And to that conduct, too faithfully
adopted by his successors, may in a great measure be
attributed the loss, as well as the gain, of the Portu
guese Empire in the East." After establishing a
factory at Cananor, Vasco da Gama departed for
Calicut, which he bombarded; and here was per
petrated a second brutality, even more horrid than the
former, and one which, for savage and bloodthirsty
cruelty and extreme suffering, perhaps has no equal
in the records of mediaeval European history.* The
details of this crime call to mind the refined tortures
of the Chinese and Japanese, or the studied infliction
1 See a plan, and sketch of Mount d'Ely, in Col. Yule's Marco
Polo, vol. ii, pp. 362, 377.
2 Lord Stanley's Correa, pp. 312-319.
^ Merchant Shipping, vol. ii, p. 40.
* Lord Stanley's Correa, p. 331.

xxu INTRODUCTION.
of mutilation and lingering death by the American
Indians. The next places visited were Cochim, where
a factor was appointed, and Coulam ; after which, the
fleet that had been hastily equipped by the natives at
Calicut with the object of avenging the cruelties lately
practised upon them, was successfully fought by the
Portuguese, who made their way to Cananor : and
strict regulations having been appointed for the safety
and maintenance of the little factory established at
this latter port under command of Vincente Sodre, the
fleet set sail for Portugal on the 28th of December,
1502, and Vasco da Gama reached Lisbon, in comple
tion of his second voyage, on the 1st of Septem
ber, 1503.
Of this second voyage of Vasco da Gama, the simple
narrative in the manuscript from which I have already
quoted affords some useful names and dates. The
translation of the paragraphs relative to this event is
as follows : —
"DOM VASCO DA GAMA, ADMIRAL OF INDIA,
1502.
"Dom Vasco da Gama, chief captain of flfteen^
ships, set out on the 10th of February for the second
time. Captains, Dom Luiz Coutinho Ramiro, Gil F[e]r-
1 A marginal note says:—" 15 sail, and afterwards there were
five more, because they could not go together ; the 15 on the 10th
of February, the 5 ou the 1st of April. ^
" Another account states that the chief captain, D. Vasco da
Gama, Admiral of India, set out with 20 sail aud these captains,
namely— Vicente SodrS, uncle of the Admiral, the brother of his
mother (lost) ; Braz Sodr6, his brother (lost) ; Alvaro de Atayde,

INTRODUCTION. Xxlii
[nande]z de Sousa, Alvaro de Attayde, Vicente Sodr^,
Braz Sodr6, Gil Matoso, Diogo F[e]r[nande]z Correa,
Frangisco da Cunha, Pedr' Affonso de Aguiar, Ruy de
Castanheda, Antonio de Campo, Loppo Mendes de
Vascon^ellos ; and of the caravellas Fernao Ro[dr]i-
[guejz Badargas, Joao Lopes Perestrelo, Antonio
F[e]r[nande]z, Thomas de Cremona, Joao de Bona-
gracia, Itahans, Loppo Dias ; and in all there were
fifteen vessels (emharcagoesj, for of the Caravelas
there went as chief captain Dom Estevao da Gama ;
he set out on the lOth^ of April, and there remained
as chief captain of the sea Vicente Sodre, who was
a native of Algarve ; Fernao Ro[dr]i[gue]z, Badargas, Antonio
Fernandez, D. Luis Coutinho Ramiro, Francisco da Cunha, from
the Terceiras Islands ; Joao Lopez Perestrelo, P[edr]o Affonso
d'Aguiar, Gil Matozo, Ruy de Castanheda, Gil Fernandez, Diogo
E[e]r[nande]z Correa, Antonio do Campo ; Estevao da Gama, son
of Aires da Gama, cousin to the Admiral ou the brother's side ;
Loppo Mendez de Vasconcellos, Thomas de Carmona : Loppo Dias,
Griado of D. Alvaro, brother of the Duke of Barganga ; Joao de
Bonagragia, an Italian.
The Admiral set out with the first fifteen sail ou the 10th of
February, his uncle Vicente Sodr6 going as chief captain of the
first five of these fifteen, with the intention of remaining away from
the rest of the fleet iu India, for the protection of the factories
which were to be established iu Cananor and Cochim, aud with the
object of making his way in the summer to go and keep guard
over the Straits of the Red Sea, and he carried with him the re
version to the post of the Admiral.
The last five of the twenty sail, because they could not be made
ready in time to start with the Admiral, set out on the 1st of April,
aud Estevao da Gama was their chief captain. Vicente Sodrl, and
Bras Sodr^, his brother, were wrecked in Curia Muria at the Cape
of Guardafuy, while in company of the fleet.
1 There is here au evident error produced by reading i"
(primeiro), as if it were 10 (dez).

xxiv INTRODUCTION.
wrecked with his brother on the islands of Curia and
Muria, which are in the straits of the Red Sea. In
this year the King of Quiloa was made tributary. The
chief captain returned to the kingdom with all his
ships laden."
It is not many years since there was published a
curious little work, in quarto, entitled " Calcoen (Cali
cut). Facsimile of a Dutch Narrative of the Second
Voyage of Vasco da Gama to Calicut. Printed at
Antwerp, circa 1504. With Introduction and Trans
lation, by J. Ph. Berjeau." This book, unnoticed by
both biographers and bibliographers, is preserved in
the library pf the British Museum. Although the
name of the Great Navigator to India is not mentioned
in it, yet the dates, events, and places recorded agree
perfectly with the second voyage of Vasco da Gama to
India round the Cape of Good Hope. According to
the translator, it is a valuable narrative, and supplies a
number of interesting details of the voyage which will
be looked for in vain in Galvao, Ramusio, Castanheda,
Faria, Barros, and others.
Of the Third Voyage of Vasco da Gama, in 1524, as
Viceroy of India, little need be said here, as it occurred
after the death of Afonso Dalboquerque.
In 1503, on the sixth of April, Afonso Dalboquerque
set out on his first voyage to India, under circumstances
narrated in the first chapter of the Commentaries.^
In consequence of the opposition of the natives to the
Portuguese factory at Cochim, lately established by his
^ Vol. i, pp. 2, 3.

INTRODUCTION. XXV
predecessors, which had been fostered by the Mahomet
ans of Cairo living in Calicut, King Manoel determined
to send Afonso Dalboquerque and his cousin Francisco
Dalboquerque to erect, a fortress in Cochim for the
shelter of their fellow-countrymen and the protection
of the merchandise. A fleet of six ships was fitted
out, three being put under the command of Afonso,
three under Francisco Dalboquerque. So eager were
they to start, that Afonso left with his three before his
cousin was ready, but contrary winds so retarded his
progress, that Francisco Dalboquerque reached Cochim
some days before him.
The King of Cochim received Francisco Dalboquer
que with great demonstration of joy, and persuaded
him to lose no time in falling upon the hostile force
under the orders of the Qamorim, which he did with
great success; and on the arrival of Afonso Dalboquer
que, the united Portuguese forces attacked the neigh
bouring island of Repelim and drove out the lord or
ruler of that place. After some demur, the King of
Cochim permitted the commanders to commence the
erection of a fortress made of palisades filled in with
earth ; in the work upon which the two cousins so eagerly
laboured, that Afonso Dalboquerque had completed his
portion first, and desired to sail away to Coulao to load
spices, according to his instructions. But Francisco
was piqued at this, and dissensions arose between them ;
and the portion which Afonso had completed was con
secrated under the title of the " Convent of Christ",
while Francisco entitled his " Alboquerque" .
Afonso Dalboquerque, however, quickly proceeded

xxvi INTRODUCTION.
to Coulao, and began to take in his cargo; and the
gamorim did all that lay in his power to excite the
king of this port against the foreigners in vain. While
the lading was in progress, a fleet of thirty-nine vessels
from CaUcut hove in sight, whereupon Afonso slipped
his cables and set out to fall upon the enemy's ships
without giving them time to get ready to withstand
hitn, but the ships chained themselves together in groups
of five, and stood in to the river of Coulao, where they
claimed the protection of the king, and, their cargoes
being discharged, they were detained until after
Afonso's departure.
After renewing the treaty of peace with this port,
and conflrming Antonio de S4 in his supreme office of
factor, in accordance with the wishes of the native
Christians, who sent a silver cross to the Portuguese
King in token of their faith, Dalboquerque sailed away
on the 12th of January, 1504, to meet his cousin Fran
cisco at Cochim. But Francisco had already departed
for Cananor, and Afonso, who delayed a little at Cochim
to fill up his cargoes, caught up with him at Calicut,
and the two sailed away in company to Cananor,
intending to keep together for the return voyage.
The impatience of Afonso, however, and the tardy
movements of Francisco, were ill-suited to each other,
so Afonso left him on the 25th of January and steered
straight across the Indian Ocean for Mogambique, and on
reaching it, made his way for the Cape of Good Hope.
Want of water forced the ships to put in for water at
S. Bras, where Afonso's boat was lost. Here was
found a letter sealed up and wrapped in a piece of

INTRODUCTION. XXVU
waxed cloth, relating that Antonio de Saldanha had
visited the spot in the previous October. The Cape
was doubled on the return journey on the 18th of May,
and the anchorage of Santa Maria at Cape Verde Island
reached with great difficulties by reason of leakages
and bad weather ; and, finally, they arrived at Lisbon
at the end of July, 1504, where the commander was
received with much delight by the king. Francisco
Dalboquerque did not complete his business in Cananor
until the Sth of February, and, sailing on that day,
was lost on his way home with the other two ships
under his command, without anyone ever knowing
where or how they perished.'^
The manuscript of the "Armadas" gives these pro
ceedings in somewhat altered form, and \\^ith some cir
cumstantial additions : —
"AFFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE, CHIEF CAPTAIN,
1503.
"Affongo de Albuquerque,'^ Chief Captain of three
vessels, set out on the 6th of April. Captains : Pero
Vaz da Veiga, Duarte Pa9heco Pereira the Famous.
1 See page xxxii, note 1.
^ The margin reads : — " Another account relates that the Cap
tain Affonso de Albuquerque went in the ship Sant-Iago ; Duarte
Pacheco Pereira, son of Joao Pacheco, iu the ship Concei(}ao ; and
that the third captain was Fernam Miz de Almada, son of Vasco
de Almada, Chief Alcaide of this town, aud that the Captain Pero
Vaz da Veiga went on the 14th of April with Francisco Albuquer
que, but was always with one or the other.
"Francisco de Albuquerque went in the ship Rainlia (Queen), and
was lost 6n coming back; Pero Vaz da Veiga of Monte M6r o Novo
was also lost; NicuUo Coelho went in the ih.\^ Fayal — he returned
to the kingdom with the rest, aud he had already served under
the Admiral (Vasco da Gama) iu the discovery of India."

XXVlll INTRODUCTION.
" In this same year there went another fleet, whereof
was Chief Captain Francisco de Albuquerque ; he set
out on the 14th of April. Captains ; Nicolas Coelho,
Fernao Miz de Almada ; and the first fortress that was
in Cochim was then made, of wood ; and there re
mained for Chief Captain of the sea, Duarte Pacheco,
who performed so many and such signal deeds of
bravery, as are written in the Chronicles ; and a factory
was established in Coulao. On the return home to
this kingdom Francisco de Albuquerque and Pero Vaz
da Veiga were lost, but the others arrived safely.
" In May of this same year there set out as Chief
Captain of another fleet, Antonio de Saldanha, who with
Ruy Lourenpo Ravasco went out to the kingdom to
cruise about for prizes at the Cape of Guardafuy ; and
Diogo F[e]r[nande]z Pereira, who discovered Socoto-
raa, was a native of Setubal ; and because he was a
man accustomed to the sea, he also went in the capa
city of Master of his ship.
"The six ships of the first two captaincies of the
Albuquerques had to carry the cargo of spiceries, and
the three of the captaincy of Antonio de Saldanha had
to cruise about the mouth of the Red Sea, watching
for the ships of the Moors from Meca.
"Francisco de Albuquerque and Pero Vaz de Veiga
were wrecked on their return voyage to the kingdom.
" Diogo Fernandez Pereira proceeded to the island
of Sacotor4, which had not yet been discovered, and
there he passed the winter.
"Antonio de Saldanha, on his return to Portugal, in
a storm which he encountered in the latitude of the

INTRODUCTION. Xxix
Cape of Good Hope, broke his mast ; yet without it
he made his way to the island of St. Elena."
The year 1504 saw another Portuguese fleet, as was
now become usual, fitted out for the Indian service, of
which the following entry in the MS. quoted, gives the
names of the ships and captains : —
"LOPO SOARES, CHIEF CAPTAIN, 1504.
"Loppo Soares, Chief Captain of 13 ships, set out
on the 22nd of April. Captains : Pero de Mendoca,
Leonel Coutinho, Tristao da Silva, Loppo Mendes de
Vasconsellos, Loppo de Abreu da Ilha, Philipe de Cas
tro, Pedro Affonso de Aguiar, Vasco da Siluejra, M^^
Telles Barreto, Afonso Lopez da Costa, Vasco Car-
valho, Pero Dinis de Setuval ; and they left M'^' Telles
de Vasconsellos as Chief Captain of the Sea, who was
the third Chief Captain of the Sea of India.
" Pedro Affonso de Aguiar received some damage
from a tempest, by reason of his collision with the
ship of Afi'onso Lopes da Costa."
P. Barreto de Resende, in his MS. (SI. 197), gives a
longer account of the doings of these early fleets.
In the following year, we find the celebrated, but
unfortunate, Dom Francisco de Almeida, the immediate
predecessor of Afonso Dalboquerque, was dispatched,
under the following circumstances, as briefly narrated
in the "Armadas" .
"DOM FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA, VICEROY, 1505.
" Dom Francisco de Almeyda, first Governor and
Chief Captain of 1 4 ships and six caravelas, set out on

xxx INTRODUCTION;
the 25th of March. Captains : Dom Fernaodo de Eca,
Lourenco de Brito, Dom Alvaro de Noronha, Pero
F[e]rr[eir]a, Manoel Pe9anha, Fernao Soares, Antao
G[on5a]l[ve]z, Diogo Correa, Ruy Freire, Vasco Gomes
de Abreu, Joao da Nova, Lopo de Goes Henrriques,
Bastiao de Souza, Dioguo Serrao. Pero F[e]rr[eir]a
and Loppo San9hes were lost, and there was, as Chief
Captain of the Sea, Dom Louren90 de Almeyda, the
Viceroy's son.
" In the caravelas there were Joao Serrao, Alonso
Bermundes, a Castilian Jidalgo, Loppo Chanoca, Gon-
9alo de Payva, Antao Vaz, Lucas de Afonsequa, Joao
Homem, a Cavalier. In this year was built the fortress
of Quiloa, to which was given the name of Sanctiago,
whereof the first captain was Pero F[e]rr[eir]a. And
another fortress was built in Angediva, to which was
given the name of Sancta Christinha, whereof the
first captain was Manoel Pe9anha. In this same
year was built the fortress of Canonor of stone, whereof
the first captain was Louren90 de Brito, and it was
called Sao Angelo. And when these fortresses had
been finished the Governor received the title of
Viceroy.^ 1 The marginal uote here is as follows :— Another relation.
Dom Francisco de Almeida iu the ship Jesus ; Vasco Gomes de
Abreu iu ,S'. Gabriel; Pedro Ferreira Fogaga in the ship^eZto;
Joao da Nova in the Flor-de-la-Mar ; Ruy Freire, Fernao Soares,
Sebastiao de Sousa, Antao Gougalvez {Alcaide of Cezimbra), Diogo
Correa, Lopo de D's (Captain and Pilot), Joao Serram, D. Fernando
de Sa of Campo Mayor, Alonso Bermundes (a Castilian fidalgo),
Lopo Sauches, Gongalo de Paiva, Lucas da Fonseca, Lopo Chanoca,
Joao Homem, Gougalo Vaz de Goes, Antam Vaz. The first 12 of

INTRODUCTION. XXxi
" In this same year there set' out another fleet' on
the 1 Sth of May, of which there went as Chief Captain
of six ships Pero da Nhaya. Captains ; Pero Barreto
de Magalhaes, Franfisco da Nhaya, Joao Leite, Jofio
de Queiros, and Manoel Fernandez ; and established a
fortress and a factory-house in Sofalla, of which Pero
da Nhaya was the First Captain.
the ships of this fleet had to return with the cargo of spiceries, aud
the rest to remain in the Indian fleet.
" Forty leagues on this side of the Line, the ship Bella, Captain
Pedro Ferreira, sprang so large a leak that, uot being able to stop
it, she went to the bottom ; but the people, and a great part of
the cargo which was ou deck, were saved, all being divided among
the other ships.
" Lopo Sancho was caught in a tempest, and his ship began to
leak, and because the leak could not be stopped, they ran her
aground 40 leagues from Cape das Correntes, thus saving the
people and timbers, whereof they made a caravela, which was
afterwards lost. "
^ The marginal note here reads : — " 6 sail on the 18th of May,
Chief Captain Pero de Anhaya. Francisco de Anhaya in the ship
S. Jnao,_etc. Three of these sail were to pass over to India to
bring the cargo of spiceries, and the other three had to remain in
charge of the coast of Sofalla, where Pero de Anhaia was to erect
a fortress. " Successes — Francisco de Anhaia, on his course along the coast
of Sofalla as far as Quiloa, lost his vessel at Mogambique, when he
desired to careen her (qiierendo tiralo a monte).
" Pedro Barreto de Magalhaes, ou departing from Sofalla, lost
the boat with the coff'er of cash for the pepper cargo, and with
it some of his meu ; and, on going out over the bar of Quiloa, lost
his ship.
" Joao Leite, going out in a proa to catch fish, fell into the sea
and was drowned.
"Joao de Queiros, wishing to take in water 60 leagues this side
of Cape das Correntes, was murdered by the Cafres, with the master
and pilot, aud nearly all who were with him in the boat."

xxxii INTRODUCTION.
" Of these six sail, three had to go to India, and
three to proceed to build the fortress of Sophalla.
" On the Sth of September, in the same year,' there
set out Cide Barbudo and Pero Caresma to survey the
land of the Cape of Good Hope, and discover if there
were therein any men belonging to ships that had been
lost. Of the ships of this fleet six returned with a
cargo to the kingdom [of Portugal], and in them the
Viceroy sent to the king an elephant, which was the
first that ever came to this kingdom.^ Another account
calls Cide Barbudo • — Cide Barboza."
There appears to be little difficulty in reconciling
these statements with that of Correa and the Com
mentaries,^ wh&ne it is expressly recorded that, in 1505
a great fleet was fltted out under the advice of Vasco
da Gama, and in consequence of Afonso Dalboquerque 's
representation to the king, Tristao da Cunha* had
been appointed Governor of India for three years ;
but the sudden attack of blindness which fell upon the
newly-appointed Governor prevented his voyage, which
1 The marginal note here reads : — "A°. 1505. Two sail iu Sep
tember to explore the land of the Cape of Good Hope as far as
Sofalla, and part of those islands, to see if they could obtain in
formation of Francisco de Albuquerque and Pero de Meudoga, who
had disappeared iu those latitudes."
2 In this respect Portugal was far behind England, for Matthew
Paris relates, under the year 1255 :— "Missus est iu Augliam quidam
elephas, quem rexFrancorum pro maguo muuere dedit regi Anglise,
cum in partibus esset Gallicanis. Nee credimus alium unquam
visum fuisse iu A.'D.gV\&."~Abbreviatio Chronicorum, Ed. Madden,
iii, 344. Before this, too, the Sultan had sent to the Emperor of
Germany iu 1229 an elephant.— /6., ii, 314.
' Vol. I, Chapter vii. 4 j^,,^^ Stanley's Correa, p. 379.

INTRODUCTION. XXXUl
fell to the lot of D. Francisco Dalmeida. " The re
discovery of the route to India", says Mr. Lindsay, in
respect of this voyage of this Viceroy,' "by way of the
Cape of Good Hope, proved an immense source of
wealth to Portugal. The proflts of her merchants on
the products of the East were enormous, and for many
years, as regarded the rest of Europe, this trade was
kept a close monopoly. Lisbon then became the entre
pot, which the Italian republics had so long held, for
the spices and other produce of India; and the palaces
of her traders with that country, which still adorn, even
amid their decay, and, in too many instances, their
ruins, the banks of the Tagus, testify to the wealth of
their original owners and occupants."
The tragic death of D. Francisco Dalmeida on the
1st of March, 1510, at the Aguada de Saldanha, has
been more than once alluded to in these Commentaries,
and some valuable notes in illustration of his bio
graphy, character, and policy in the East, may be read
in Lord Stanley's Preface to Correa's Voyages of Vasco
da Gama. As the Commentaries teach us, he appears
to have exhibited (and perhaps with some reason) no
slight amount of impatience and indignation at being
superseded by Dalboquerque very shortly after his suc
cessful engagement with the fleet of the Rumes, or
Turks, that is, the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt, in con
junction with that of the Kings of India in 1508, an
event which may be read of at length in the principal
works on Indian history that refer to the period.^
^ Vol. ii page 44.
2 See also an excellent biographical notice of this Viceroy by
Ferd. Denis, in HoefFer's Noiiv. Biogr. Ifnivers., vol. i, p. 185.

XXXIV INTRODUCTION.
During the Viceroyalty of Dalmeida, yearly expedi
tions took place, in consolidation of the Portuguese
intercourse with their newly established Indian colo
nies. A fleet was sent in 1506, under Tristao da
Cunha and Afonso Dalboquerque as joint Chief Cap
tains. An independent notice of this voyage is thus
given in the manuscript of the Armados.
"TRISTAO DA CUNHA AND AFFONSO DE ALBUQUER
QUE, CHIEF CAPTAINS, 1506.
" Tristao^ da Cunha, and Affonso de Albuquerque,
Chief Captains of 16 ships, set out on the 6th of
1 Marginal notes. "16 sail on the 6th of March, whereof not
one, in this year, owing to various circumstances, passed over to
India." " Another account reads : — Tristao da Cunha, and Afibnso de
Albuquerque, Chief Captains, set out on the 6th of March with
16 sail, whereof were Captains, Tristao da Cunha iu the ship
Espirito S'"; Aluaro Tellez Baretto in S. Vicente, Joao Gomes de
Abreu in the Luz (lost), Lionel Coutinho in the Leitoa Nova
(Sucking Pig), R<iy Pereira, Ruy Dias Pereira, Job Queimado,
Alvaro Fernandez, a cavalier from Alvito, Joao da Veiga, the
foster brother of Tristao da Cunha, Tristao Roiz, page of the
King's Chamber, Tristao Alvarez, Affonso de Albuquerque in Flor-
de-lorMar, Francisco de Tavora in Rey Grande, Manoel Tellez
Barreto iu Rey Pequeno, Afonso Lopes da Costa in the S. Jorge
Taforea (transport), Antonio do Campo in the Caravela Espirito S".
" Of the first eleven ships which were to carry the cargoes of
spiceries Tristao da Cunha was the Chief Captain ; of the last
five Affonso Dalbuquerque was the Chief Captain, with which he
was to remain in position of a fleet on the coast of Arabia and
mouth of the Red Sea Straits; with instructions that both these
fleets, united into one body, should make for the island of Soco-
torS, and take a fortress from the Moors who were therein ; and
whereas this fortress did not tum out to be of tbe nature which
our people expected it to be, namely that they could defend them-

INTRODUCTION. XXXV
March, 1506. Captains : Aluaro Telles Barreto, Job
Queimado, Joao Gomez de Abreu, Leonel Continho,
Joao Roiz Pereira, Tristao Alueres, Joao da Veiga,
Aluaro Fernandez, Tristao Roiz. Aluaro Telles sailed
in such a course as to fetch the Island of Sao Lourenfo
ou the outer coast, mistaking this for the Cape of
Guardafuy. Joao Gomez died on the voyage, and his
ship was lost at Pat^, which is an island on the coast
of Melinde.
" In this voyage, Tristao da Cunha discovered " the
islands to which he gave his name, and thus they are
caUed at the present day ; and in this same year was
constructed the fortress of Cochim, of stone, whereof
the flrst Captain was Don Aluaro de Noronha, and it
was called Sancta Cruz.
" By this fleet was built the fortress of Sacotord, to
which was given the name of Sancthome, of which
Dom Affonso de Noronha was the first Captain ; and the
first monastery was made of the Order of Sao Fran-
selves in it, they built one of timber which they carried from the
kingdom ready cut.
" Successes of this fleet. Alvaro Tellez, outside the Island of
S. Lourengo, made his way to the Island of Samatra, thinking it
was the Cape of Guardafuy.
" Joao Gomes de Abreu died on land in the Island of S. Lorengo,
of ilhiess, and his ship was lost in a creek close to Pate, the people
saving themselves in another one. The rest of the sail, as well
those of the Captaincy of Afonso Dalboquerque as also those of Tristao
da Cunha, wintered ; which Tristao da Cunha, on the tack from
Brasil to the Cape of Good Hope, discovered the Islands which
they now call after his name.
" Job Queimado, on his return journey to Portugal, was taken
by the French."

xxxvi INTRODUCTION.
Cisco that was ever in India, and of it Frey Antonio
de Loureiro was Guardian.
" The Chief Captain Tristao da Cunha made this
fortress, and there Affonso de Albuquerque took leave
of him, with five ships to make war upon Ormus ;
Captain Francisco de Tavora, Manoel Telles Barreto,
Afonso Lopes da Costa, Antonio do Campo.
" And in this year the Viceroy dismantled the for
tress of Angediva, in accordance with the King's com
mands, and built in Cochim the Castle of Qima ; and
Afonso Dalboquerque began to build the fortress of
Ormus, to which he gave the name of ' Our Lady of the
Victory' (Nossa Senhora da Victoria), and because
the war broke out before it was finished, no captain
was appointed to it this year.
" Of this fleet, four ships returned laden to the king
dom, for the others remained in India and in the war
in Ormus."
The names and dates contained in the preceding
extracts relating to this voyage, must be compared by
the reader with corresponding statements in the text
of Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque. In most
cases the two will be found to agree ; but there are,
on the other hand, numerous points where discrepan
cies may be noted. According to the work before us,
Afonso Dalboquerque's connection with India as Chief
Captain commences wdth his advice to the King con
cerning the state of India in 1504. The King decided
to send Tristgo da Cunha in the position of Governor
for three years. The fleet was ready in the following

INTRODUCTION. XXXvii
year, when the Governor-designate fell suddenly blind ;
an accident which led to the substitution of Dom
Francisco Dalmeida as Viceroy. It does not appear
that Dalboquerque had any active part in this expedi
tion. But in 1506, Tristao da Cunha, being by this
time happily restored to sight, was despatched with a
fleet of fourteen, sail, under orders to winter at the
Island of Socotra in case of being unable to cross over
to the Indian Continent. At Socotra a fortress was
to be constructed for the relief and protection of the
Christian inhabitants,' and for the safety of the Portu
guese squadron about to be employed in blockading
the Red Sea.
In this naval expedition Afonso Dalboquerque was
associated as Chief Captain over six ships and four
hundred men, and secret instructions were given to
him that on the expiration of the Viceroy's term of
office he was to succeed as Governor of India. Tristfio
da Cunha (page 21) sets out on the 5th of April, 1506,
Alfonso Dalboquerque being delayed until the follow
ing day for want of a pilot. The captains met again
off Biziguiche,^ and stand off to double the Cape of
St. Augustine, during which evolution a storm breaks
over the fleet, the ships are scattered for two days, and
on reassembling that of Captain Job Queimado was
discovered to be missing.' When the fleet was in the
^ Berjeau states that in 1502, at the time of the second voyage
of Vasco da Gama, the island of Socotra was mainly inhabited by
Greek Christians.
2 Perhaps Bissagot's Island, between Bathurst and Sierra Leone.
^ ^He rejoined the fleet, however, at Mogambique (vol. i, page 28),
having met with an island " sixty leagues in the sea from the

XXXvni INTRODUCTION.
latitude of Ascension Island, the Chief Captain gave
orders for the fleet to separate and rendezvous at Mo-
pambique, the usual point of departure across the Indian
Gulf. And as they were all in a fair course to clear the
Cape of Good Hope, an island hitherto unknown was
seen, to which, in honour of the Commander of the ex
pedition, the narae of Tristao da Cunha was given. It
does not appear by these Commentaries that any visit
was made from the ships to the land on this occasion.'
river of Angola" ; this island, which is described as very large,
thickly wooded, and uninhabited, is perhaps Pinha Island.
^ An interesting account of the present condition of this desolate
island occurs in a description by Sir W.yville Thomson of some
events observed by him during the voyage of the Challenger. As
this is probably the latest recorded notice, it is worth while re
ferring to it iu this place : — " The sixteen or seventeen families
who reside on the Island of Tristan da Cunha, have sufiered so
much from violent gales, that they now build their cottages of
blocks of stone— a sort of soft volcanic tufa^of four or five feet
square, in order to enable them to withstand these storms. The
wind is sometimes so violent that these blocks, wheu being brought
down from the quarry, are lifted bodily by the wind. As there
is no mortar on the island, aU the stones are dove-tailed into each
other, and it is curious to see the people builditjg these cottages.
Very frequently wrecks occur on the island, and a number of large
spars are picked up on the shore as the remains of lost vessels.
The people take two or three of these spars, aud, laying them up
against the wall at a low angle, carefully grease them, and, by a
method known to have been used iu Assyria and ancient Egypt,
they gradually move on rollers and slide up these blocks to the
top of the wall, when they are fixed in their places. Tristan
da Cunha is one of a little group of three islands, one of which is
called Nightingale Island. It is covered with tussack grass seven,
eight, or nine feet in height ; and from the top of these tussacks
grass springs about an inch and a half in height. The tussack
grass becomes matted so as to form a very dense jungle through
which it is difficult to crush. Long avenues run between the tus-

INTRODUCTION. XXXIX
Shortly afterwards, Moyambique was reached by
Afonso Dalboquerque and Francisco de Tavora, the
Chief Captain arriving a few days later on, with the
remainder of the ships except that of Alvaro Mendez,
who appears to have rounded Madagascar on the outer
coast, contrary to the usual Portuguese navigation,
and stood over to Melinde. At this point in the his-
sacks, covered with slippery wet clay, and on the ground are mul
titudes of penguins. These birds have millions of nests under
the long grass, they keep the ground constantly wet, and it has
the strongest possible smell of ammonia. It is impossible to pass
a single yard along tliese avenues without crushing the young birds
or the nests, while the old penguins all around make the most
frightful din, and jag the leg of the traveller, their long sharp beaks
drawing blood at every stroke. These penguins are a most extra
ordinary sight. They are perfectly tame, in the first place,
because they do not know any reason for fear from proximity to
man ; and, secondly, because they have really no means of escape.
They stand from one and half to two and a half feet iu height.
Their nests are little flat clay erections, about two inches in height.
The bird lays one, sometimes two eggs, and sits ou the nest up
right. It is a singular sight to see the birds sitting on their eggs
in the space between the tussacks. Some six or eight acres are
covered with them. At certain times perhaps a thousand of these
penguins come out from the various lanes and walk down to the
sea. When they reach to the water they throw themselves down
aud squattle into it. The moment they are in the water they act
just as if they were fishes. The grey groove in their backs is
occasionally seen above the surface, but it is scarcely possible to
imaginethat theyare birds— they look just likegrey mullets. Having
fished for a while, they return to their nests by a regular path,
which is beaten as flat as a sheep walk. The whole is carried out
by a regular system, the birds going to the sea by one path and
returning by another. Sometimes they stand and have a talk for
a while, apparently a regular chattering going on ; then all of a
sudden they stand at attention, and each proceeds to its par-
ticulftr nest."

xl INTRODUCTION.
tory of the expedition, it appears that Tristao da Cunha,
persuaded by the information obtained by Rui Pereira
(who had touched at the harbour of Tanana in Mada
gascar, and carried with him two natives to the
rendezvous), determined to prosecute the exploration of
the coast of that island. A descent was consequently
planned upon a densely peopled island in the Mozam
bique channel — not identified by the writer of the
Commentaries — the people put to the sword, and the
place sacked.
After a delay of three days, spent in taking in water
and supplies, Tristao da Cunha made an ineffectual
attempt to continue his survey of the northern coast
of Madagascar, and returned to the African coast at
pada, where he fell upon the inhabitants, according to
his wont, and dispersed them. The policy of uncer
tainty and delay, which appears to have actuated the
Chief Captain at this period, was very much opposed
to the fiery and impatient spirit of Afonso Dalboquer
que, who remonstrated with his superior officer in very
decided tones, and eventually obtained permission to
make his way to Socotra, and take his appointed fleeb
with him. On his way, he had hardly passed the
Comoro Islands, when he heard of the wreck of
Rui Pereira on a bank, and the narrow escape of
Tristao da Cunha from the same fate. In consequence
of this disaster, Dalboquerque rejoined his Chief Cap
tain and returned with him to Mopambique, where
they found Joao da Nova, the captain of the Flor-de-
la-Mar on the homeward voyage,' who had put into
^ See page xxx, .note.

INTRODUCTION. xli
that port having sprung a leak at the step of the mast.
It was found necessary to discharge the cargo of this
ship (which was afterwards repaired and formed one of
the fleet left with Dalboquerque) into a native vessel,
that was forthwith dispatched home under command
of Antonio de Saldanha, who on this voyage discovered
the ill-fated watering place of Saldanha (now Saldanha
Bay), where, in 1510, the Viceroy Dom Francisco
Dalmeida was murdered by the inhabitants. Pedro
Barreto de Resende adds, in his account of this event,
somewhat mournfully, that the bones of the unfortunate
Dalmeida are reported to be lying there to this day.
The reunited fleet proceeded to Melinde, and the
friendly king was visited by the Chief Captain ; the
native potentate took advantage of the opportunity
afforded him to request that the Portuguese forces
might be directed against his neighbouring enemies
the Kings of Mombafa and Angoja. This resulted in
the attack, pillage, and destruction by fire of the latter
city, and after some parley, a similar fate befell the city
of Braboa, a little further on upon the same coast. At
the fight which took place at this latter city Tristao da
Cunha was wounded in the leg by an arrow, and in
pursuance of his desire Afonso Dalboquerque dubbed
him a knight, "in that place where the Moors had
shed his blood".' After this episode, the fleet set sail
and steered along the coast in a northerly direction,
intending to touch at Magadaxo in Zanguebar ; but in
consequence of the advice of Afonso Lopez Bura-
1 Perhaps in remembrance of the knighting of the sons of King
Joao I, at the attack of Ceuta iu 1415.— See above, page v.

xiii INTRODUCTION.
quinha. the chief pilot, who had practical experience
of the dangers attending the navigation of that locality,
the course was altered, and the whole fleet stood in
and anchored off ^oc6, the principal port of Socotra.
On arrival, it was found that a very strong fortress
had been erected by the natives, who refused all over
tures on the part of the fleet to render it up quietly.
An attack was therefore organized, which resulted in
the successful escalade of the stronghold, after seven
hours' flghting, by Tristao da Cunha, who experienced
an obstinate resistance on the part of the defenders, their
resolute defence bringing about the complete destruc
tion of all of their number except one. This indi
vidual was a pilot who gave Afonso Dalboquerque a
Chart " of the kingdom of Ormuz" which had been
made by another pilot named Omar. The mosque
was consecrated to the religion of the conquerors on
the following day, and dedicated to " Our Lady of the
Victory" ; the native Christians' encouraged and in
structed by a priest who accompanied the fleet ; and
the Portuguese fortress completed and dedicated to
St. Michael, Dom Afonso de Noronha being appointed
Captain in charge.
The time was now approaching when Tristao da
Cunha and Afonso Dalboquerque were to take separate
' Although there are now no traces of the Greek Christianity
which then prevailed in the island of Socotra, a valuable account
of it may be read in Col. Yule's Marco Polo, 2nd Edition, vol. ii,
pp. 400-403. Degenerate forms of certain Christian ceremonies
were there found side by side with heathen practices as late as the
middle of the seventeenth century.

INTRODUCTION. xliii
action in the Indian Seas. The former arranged the
disposition of the forces, by committing to Afonso the
chief captaincy of six well provided ships.
1. The Cirne, Flagship of the Chief Captain.
2. The Rey Grande, Captain Francisco de Ta
vora. 3. The Rey Pequeno, Captain Manuel Telez.
4. The Taforea, or Transport, Captain Afonso Lopes
da Costa.
5. A Small Ship, Captain Antonio do Campo.
6. The Flor-de-la-Mar^ Captain Joao da Nova.^
This last ship, the Flor-de-la-Mar, was temporarily
added to the fleet, pending the advent of the Comen-
dador Ruy Soares, on whose arrival Joao da Nova was
to sail away to India with the latest news of Afonso
Dalboquerque's doings.
Having thus arranged the fleet, Tristao da Cunha
shaped his course for India, with four vessels, on the
18th of August, 1507, and having arrived and laden
his squadron with a suitable cargo, sailed away on the
homeward voyage for Portugal.
Although tbe next naval expedition sent out from
the mother kingdom did not in any way meet those
of Tristao da Cunha or Afonso Dalboquerque, it is
here fltting to turn to, and record, the mission of Chief
Captain Jorge de Mello Pereira, whose fleet sailed in
the year 1507, according to the following notice in the
Armadas da India.
1 Compare this list with that given on page xxxiv, note.
2 " L'eternel competiteur d' Albuquerque." Ferd. Denis, in Hoef-
fer's Nouv. Biogr. Univ. s.v. Almeida.

xhv INTRODUCTION.
"JORGE DE MELLO PEREIRA, CHIEF CAPTAIN, WITH
12 SHIPS, IN FOUR CAPTAINCIES, 1507.
" Jorge de Mello Pereira, Chief Captain, set out on
the 12th, 13th, 15th and 20th of April. Captains
Henrrique Nunes de Leao, Phelipe de Crasto, Chief
Captain ; Jorge de Crasto, Fernao Soares, Chief Cap
tain ; Ruy da Cunha, Gon9alo Carneiro, Vasco Gomes
de Abreu, Chief Captain ; Ruy de Brito Patalym, Ruy
de Valadares, Loppo Crabr% Martym Coelho, Diogo
de Mello ; all these to build the fortress of Mogambique,
whereof Vasco Gomez remained to be Captain.
While all these ships were wintering in Mo9am-
bique, the crews built the first fortress of stone and
mortar, which they called S. Gabriel, the hospital, and
church ; and only Fernao Soares sailed away thence
during the April monsoon, to India ; and Henrrique
Nunes de Leao returned thence to the Kingdom with
the cargo 'of the ship Leitoa, which was lost at night'
at the island of Tristao da Cunha.'"
1 Another account says: — "There set out 12 ships in four
captaincies, etc. : Jorge de Mello Pereira, chief captaiu, in the
ship Belern, ; Enrique Nunes de Leam, iu S. Antonio; Fernao
Soarez, chief captain ; Ruy da Cunha, in S. Gabriel ; Gougalo
Carneiro ; Filippe de Castro, chief captain ; Jorge de Castro, his
brother ; Vasco Gomes de Abreu, chief captain ; Loppo Cabreira ;
Pedro Lourengo ; Ruy Gongalves de Valadares, in S. Simam ;
Joao Chanoca.
" The seven ships of the first three Captaincies had to carry the
cargo of spiceries.
" The five of the last went as a guard over that coast of Melinde,
whose chief captain, Vasco Gomes de Abreu, had to remain as
Captaiu of Sofalla.
" Successes.— Of all these ships, uot one passed this year to

INTRODUCTION. xlv
The course of events here reverts to the text of the
Commentaries, from which it will be easily perceived
that now that Tristao da Cunha had sailed away to
India, Afonso Dalboquerque was in the position of
supreme head of Portuguese affairs on the Eastern
Coast of Africa, and after settling the affairs of the
land he prepared his ships and set out with the inten
tion of cruising about to intercept the ships coming
from India to pass into the Red Sea. A council was
held under his direction, wherein it was decided that
the fleet should steer for the Straits of Ormuz, take
Mascate, and endeavour to capture any ships on their
voyage from the African ports within the Red Sea
bound for Dio, Cambaya, or the Malabar Coast.
On the 10th of August, — only ten days after the
departure of Tristao da Cunha for shores further east,
— the little squadron of six Portuguese ships sailed out
of the port of Qoco, taking a northerly course, by way of
Fartak and Zafar, in hopes of sighting the Bay of Curia
Muria.' Want of necessary provisions compelled the
commander to make for the Straits of Ormuz at the
gates of the Persian Gulf, and put in at Kalhat^ on the
India, and in order to get rid of the confusion which was like to
arise out of this upon those who were therein, they agreed to send
Ruy Soares, Commendador of Rhodes, with a message to the Vice
roy, which voyage he undertook, although it was very perilous.
Aurrique Nunes de Leam returned from Mogambique to Portugal
with the lading of the ship Leitoa, which could not proceed on
account of its leaky condition."
1 Some writers have sought to identify the Kuria Muria Islands
with the Male and Female Islands described by Marco Polo. —
See Col. Yule's 2nd Edition, vol. ii, p. 397.
2 The Calatu of Marco Polo, ii, 448.

xlvi INTRODUCTION.
Arabian coast. The inhabitants of this city so readily
agreed to all that was demanded of them, that it escaped
the destruction which had been visited upon other less
fortunate places ; and, after re-victualling his fleet,
Afonso Dalboquerque sailed away, intending to make
for Icce, a site which he found to have been marked
down in Omar's chart as distant flve leagues from
Calayate. This turned out to be a river, so the fleet
proceeded to Curiate, a little below Mascate,' and
burned it, and then to Mascate, where another scene
in the flery drama which proclaimed the progress of
the destroyer was enacted ; the operations of the Por
tuguese at this place being encouraged by the miracu
lous egress of the sapping party from the ruins of the
mosque, which came down upon them just as they were
about to quit it after cutting the supports.
At this period of their Arabian adventures, Joao da
Nova, who throughout his career systematically op
posed his superior officer, determined to sail away to
India without waiting for Ruy Soares, Commendador
[of Rhodes']. But Afonso Dalboquerque did not lack
the voluntary information of those who were likely to
be well-informed on the subject, and soon learned that
it was the general opinion of all his captains that he
was undertaking too "much in attempting to besiege
Ormuz by sea with so Hmited a number of ships.
The expedition next came in front of Soar, and
stood in and anchored about a mile and a half from
shore, but the readiness shown by the rulers of the
city in accepting and admitting the demands made by
1 See Col. Yule's Marco Polo, 2nd Edition, vol. ii, p. 448.

INTRODUCTION. xlvii
Afonso Dalboquerque upon the place, saved their town
from imminent destruction by burning and the inhabi
tants from slaughter.
The next place visited by the conqueror was Or-
fagao, or Corfacam, where, in the course of the pro
ceedings consequent upon the defence of the place,
a brutal mutilation of the " old Moors who were not
fit for work" was perpetrated, in keeping with the cruel
conduct of Vasco da Gama at Calicut during his second
voyage in 1502, to which the attention of the reader
has already been directed. Eventually the city of Or-
fagao was fired, and the victorious fleet, setting sail in
the midst of a violent thunderstorm, reached Ras
Mussendom, where news was brought to Afonso Dal
boquerque that "the King of Ormuz was already aware
of his approach and had a large fleet to fight with him,
and in the city many soldiers and many munitions of
war". This information resulted in shortening sail, with a
view to a very cautious approach ; but, notwithstand
ing this manoeuvre, the fleet hove in sight of the island
of Ormuz' on the following day, the little islands of
Larek and Kishm, or Larequa and Queixome as they
are called in the narrative, being also within view of
the Httle fleet of foreign adventurers. Among the
vessels of war in the harbour of Ormuz, which were
detained by the King, was the Meri, of Cambaya, —
a ship of about one thousand tons burden.
The king, however, who had doubtless heard of the
^ Some valuable notes on the situation of Hormos in Col. Yule,
Marco Polo, ii, 450 ; View, in Correa's Lendas, Lisbon Acad. Ed.,
tom. ii, p. 439.

xlviii INTRODUCTION.
ruthless conduct of his visitors on former occasions,
appears to have been by no means desirous of
hazarding a conflict of naval power, and dispatched
an Armenian Moor, named Cogebeiram, to negotiate
terms of peace with Afonso Dalboquerque ; but tbe
terms offered by that spirited Captain were too severe
for the king's acceptance, and after a short space of
time, consumed in fruitless attempts at an adjustment,
mutual preparations for hostilities were commenced.
The Portuguese ships formed a semicircle outside the
crowded body of native shipping in the harbour, and
laying out cables, buoyed up at short intervals, pre
vented the enemy from breaking away and getting to
sea. The Meri was grappled with and boarded, her
crew overpowered and slaughtered, and her guns
turned against the city itself, by Jorge Barreto, who
took the ship.
The panic which seized the native seamen at this
juncture was not queUed even by the presence among
them of the Chief of their City — Cogeatar — who was
compelled to quit his barge, and only saved his life by
throwing himself into the sea close to the houses, when
the Portuguese were on the point of capturing him.
The consternation of the people on shore increased
every moment, the carnage was now at its height, and
was followed up in the way which appears to have
become by this time, and for many years afterwards,
almost conventional in the Indian Seas. " They' re
turned to the place where Afonso Dalboquerque was,
and when all were reunited, they returned again to the
1 Vol. i, p. 117.

INTRODUCTION. xlix
battle on the sea with the Moors who were swimming,
and with lance-thrusts and cuts they killed so many
of them, that, although, as they were tired of slaughter
and unable to accomplish their whole purpose, some
managed to escape, yet the sea was so tinged with
blood that it was a fearful thing to look at. The cabin-
boys and ships' servants, also, on their part, did nothing
but thrust the bodies under water with grappling-
hooks, and tear out their bowels in such a manner that
the slaughter was great among them ; and there was
one cabin-boy who alone put to death eighty Moors."
The only defence which could have protected the
city of Ormuz against the foreigners was thus com
pletely destroyed by an engagement which had lasted
for eight hours, during which " there was not a single
shot fired that did not send a ship to the bottom and
put many men to death".' The dismantled and dis
abled ships were set on flre and cut adrift, and floating
out to sea carried destruction with them in their un
guided courses The victorious Afonso Dalboquerque
landed, and set flre to the suburbs, thus filling up to
the brim the ruin and desolation he had brought upon
the city. Cogeatar, the Minister of Ormuz, lost no
time in endeavouring to stay the hand of the infidel
Franks, and sent two Moors (who had but recently
arrived in Ormuz from Oran with news of a fleet sent
1 It must not, however, be forgotten that many bodies were
found afterwards mortally wounded by the arrows of their fellow
meu ; a circumstance considered miraculous by the Portuguese,
who declared the arrows were turned in their flight, but probably
the result of adverse wind, or bad or distant aim.

1 INTRODUCTION.
from Portugal to Turkey under command of the
Prior of Crato, as Chief Captain) to announce his un
conditional surrender.
After some discussion, the amount of indemnity
and of annual tribute was settled, a space within the
boundary of the city was demanded for a Portuguese
fortress, the kingdom formally restored to the king
and his chief Cogeatar — who had shown a desire to
retire to Calayate, his native place — and a treaty drawn
up, in duplicate (Arabic and Persian), copies of
which were sent home. On the 10th of October, the
Portuguese flag was carried in procession through
Ormuz, and planted on the loftiest tower of the Royal
Palace. All now seemed to be in good order ; but Afonso
Dalboquerque's desire of constructing a stronghold
which should defy native treachery and all the advan
tages which superior numbers could wield against
the resolute defence of a mere handful of men at bay
within it, gave Cogeatar an opportunity of rousing his
countrymen once more against their new masters.
Nabande or Nobend, was offered as a better site than
any which the island of Ormuz could afford. This
was found on examination to be-unsuitable ; another
place, nearer to Ormuz, — Turumbaque — proved equally
unfit, and eventually Afonso Dalboquerque deter
mined to build his castle on the point of Morona, in
Ormuz itself, looking towards the mainland, the place
occupied by the square fortification in the plan given
at page 112.
Under native labour and Portuguese superintend-

INTRODUCTION. Il
ence, the work of construction rapidly progressed ;
the ¦ principal portal of the tower being cased with
three stone anchors taken out of the Meri, a lasting
memorial of the victory of the fleet, and of the dis
grace of the defenders of the city. An attempt was
made to encourage the merchants to trade with the
ships, the ships themselves were careened and refltted
one by one, and afusta of eighteen banks of oars built
for future service in the Red Sea. Meanwhile an
Arab sheikh, Ismael, had arrived, to receive the yearly
tribute paid to him by the King of Ormuz ; and the
matter having been reported to Afonso Dalboquerque,
he threatened to deprive the king of his authority over
the city if ever he should pay any future tribute to
this or any other superior lord except only to the King
of Portugal.
At this period of the Portuguese occupation of
Ormuz, when Afonso Dalboquerque was contemplating
an expedition to the Red Sea, an incident occurred
which, although small in itself, led eventually to the
abandonment of the hardly-won position. It arose in
this way. Out of a feeling of magnanimity and a
desire to let nothing delay the completion of the
fortress, the Portuguese commander consented to
restore the Meri, and some of the captives, to the king
and Cogeatar. This liberal proceeding emboldened
the captain of a merchant ship from Onor (Honowar),
who had come into the port of Ormuz just before the
engagement trusting to the security of a pass procured
from Dom Loren90 Dalmeida, son of Dom Francisco
Dalmeida the Viceroy, to beg restitution, for on the

Iii INTRODUCTION.
arrival of the hostile fleet Cogeatar had seized the
Onor ship, which was discharging her freight, and con
verted her into a vessel of war. This was granted, a safe
pass given to the captain to return to Onor, and a
letter written by Afonso Dalboquerque to the Viceroy
entrusted to his care, in which was set forth the whole
Portuguese policy and the urgent need of reinforce
ments. But there was a traitor in the fleet ; for no sooner
had Antonio do Campo, captain of one of the ships,
obtained aja idea of the contents of the communication
thus made to the Viceroy, than Cogeatar was apprised
of the information so given. Not content with this
treachery, the other captains of the fleet were purposely
irritated by the artful dissemination of matters prejudi
cial to their interest, which were falsely alleged to be pro
posed in this letter. This incensed them against their
commander, and it was not long before they found op
portunities to comport themselves with insubordination,
and even to hold seditious meetings in which they
discussed the lucrative advantages which they would
obtain by a speedy abandonment of the works at
Ormuz and a passage to India. The division of the
prize money was another fruitful source of contention,
and it was not until the extreme measure of depriving
Francisco de Tavora of his captaincy and giving
the command of his ship to another, that Afonso Dal
boquerque, who had acted throughout this critical
affair with great and exemplary forbearance, was able
to regain some show of authority and command over
his men.

INTRODUCTION. Iiii
In the midst of these internal dissensions four
mariners deserted, and revealed to the willing ears of
Cogeatar the disorder that was prevalent in the hostile
ranks. This resulted in an endeavour on the part of that
high functionary to retard the progress of the building
by which the subjection of the natives would have been
completed ; and it was not long before the threatening
aspect of affairs warned Afonso Dalboquerque to lose
no time in withdrawing the persons employed upon
that work to the ships, previous to a declaration of war
against the king of Ormuz for not restoring the four
fugitives whose surrender had been demanded in vain.
The successful accomplishment of the fortress of
Ormuz was now a matter of great uncertainty. On
the 13th of November 1507, the depositions of the
disaffected captains were drawn up, in which it was
alleged that Afonso Dalboquerque had neglected the
fortress of Socotra, and omitted the opportunity of
sending the Flor-de-la-Mar to India. On the 5th of
January in the following year, a remonstrance signed
by all the captains was handed to the commander,
wherein they declared their intention of no longer co
operating with him in the siege. But Afonso Dal
boquerque was unwilling to desist from his cherished
scheme without a conflict. Skirmishes took place at
the fresh-water tanks of Turumbaque, and at the
watering place on the Island of Queixome or Kishm ;
the native forces were routed ; and a parao, filled with
the corpses of the principal Moors who had been killed
in action, was sent drifting to shore towards the city,
where the lamentations of the people were, without

liv INTRODUCTION.
doubt, not unmixed with the horrible remembrance of
the somewhat similar fate which had been meted out
to the men of Calicut by a previous expedition from
the same European nation.
It was not long after this wanton act of inhumanity
had been perpetrated, before a large fleet was sighted
off the island of liara, and the three ships commanded
by Antonio do Campo, Afonso Lopez da Costa, and
Manuel Telez, were ordered to fall upon the Moorish
vessels. The enemy, who turned out to be in great
force — no less than four thousand men, in sixty ships
under command of Xaquear — had been posted under
orders from Cogeatar to dispute the possession of the
watering stations, but they fled at the approach of the
three Portuguese ships ; and these in their turn took
advantage of the opportunity, when they were not near
the immediate observation of Afonso Dalboquerque, and
sailed away for India, deserting their companions, who
were thus left in but three ships in the presence of a
very superior force, and between that force and a large
and fortified city which was already beginning to show
signs of surrender.
For six days the decision of the Chief Captain
wavered, but at length he determined to abandon his
position, and sailed away to Socotra, sending an
account of the circumstances to the Viceroy by Joao
da Nova in the Flor-de-la-Mar, one of the few ships
yet in his company. On the way to Socotra a
Mecca ship richly laden was captured, and on his
arrival the island garrison was revictualled, and
Franciso de Tavora, was dispatched, in the last ship.

INTRODUCTION. ]v
to Melinde for supplies, while Afonso Dalboquerque
cruised about off the Cape of Guardafum.
At this period of the adventures of Afonso Dalbo
querque, the spring months of the year 1508, a fleet
was sent out from Portugal, as was now customary, to
reinforce her distant colonies in the East. This was
commanded by Jorge de Aguiar, and the brief record
of its captains and its proceedings — as summarised in
the MS. of the Armadas da Jnc^ia— introduces into the
scenes in which Afonso Dalboquerque is the principal
figure, several new names, and supphes some new
details of information not contained in the Commen
taries. The entry is as follows :
"JORGE DE AGUIAR, CHIEF CAPTAIN, 1508.
"Jorge de Aguiar,' Chief Captain of 8 ships, set out
on the 9th of April. Captains Vasco Carvalho, Ruy
da Cunha, Joao Roiz P[ereir]a, Alvaro Barreto, Tristao
da Sylva, Goncalo Mendes de Brito, Francisco Pereira
Pestana. They wintered in Quiloa. These^ eight
ships for the cargo; and four small ones forthe war
^ For the Portuguese text of this passage, see page 31 of this
volume. 2 " Eight sail ou the 9th April, and four more sail, others say 5.
Another account is couched in this manner : — Jorge de Aguiar,
chief captain, set out on the 9th of April with 13 sail, of which
the captains were : Tristam da Silva; Joao Roiz Pereira, in the ship
Botafogo; Vasco Carvalho; Alvaro Barreto, in the ship Sta. Marta;
Francisco Pereira Pestana; Gougalo Mendez de Brito ; JoaoColago;-
Diogo de Atayde ; Duarte de Lemos da Trofa, in the Sta. Cruz ;
Vasco da Silveira ; Pero Correa ; Diogo Correa, his brother.
"Of these 17 ships, the first four, whereof Diogo Lopes de

Ivi INTRODUCTION.
against OrmUs, of which Duarte de Lemos Datrofa
was chief Captain. Captains Joao Cola90, Gon9alo
da Sylveira, Diogo de Attajde, Pero Correa, and
Diogo Correa. In this same year Diogo Lopez de
Siqueira, Chief Almotagel of the kingdom, sailed as
chief Captain of four vessels on the 5th of April to go
and explore, and conquer Malaca. Captains Jeronimo
Teixeira in the ship Sia. Clara, Gongalo de Souza,
and Joao Nunes. He returned with all his ships safe
to the kingdom."
At the end of April, Francisco da Tavora. returned
to the rendezvous at Cape Guardafum, bringing to
Afonso Dalboquerque two captains in ships newly
arrived from Portugal, and the news that the commen
dador Ruy Soares (who was under orders to join
Afonso Dalboquerque) had gone on to the Viceroy.
Siqueira was chief captaiu, went to explore the island of S. Lou
rengo, and not finding therein the silver, cloves, and ginger, that it
was reported to contain, they passed over to explore the island of
Malaca. "Of the 13 of the captaincy of Jorge de Aguiar, eight had to
carry the cargo, and with the five remaining he, Jorge de Aguiar,
had to keep guard over the coasts of Ethiopia and Arabia.
" On returning from Malaca to India, the ship Santa Clara,
Captain Jeronimo Teixeira, struck upon a bank and foundered,
and Diogo Lopez appointed him sub-captain of the ship of Joao
Nunez. " The ship of Gougalo de Souza was burned because she had no
crew to handle her.
" Jorge de Aguiar was lost by night on the islands of Tristao da
Cunha. "Francisco Pereira Pestana wintered in Quiloa, whither he
went as captain."

INTRODUCTION. Ivii
He also brought Fernao Gomez and a Moor, who were
to undertake a journey by land across the continent
of Africa through the " land of Cadandin, a Moorish
Captain who was prosecuting a war with another Cap
tain of Prester John, for the one land is contiguous to
the other", through Tambocatu (probably Timbuctoo),
and thence to Arguin,^ along the river ^anaga or
Senegal — a journey which the Moor had already
traversed. Afonso Dalboquerque wintered at Socotra, repaired
his ships, built &fusta of fourteen banks of oars, and,
much to the disgust of her Captain, Francisco de Tavora,
cut down the Rey Grande, which was too high out of
the water for these stormy latitudes. In the mean
time, the three fugitive ships arrived at Cochim, and
their Captains laid their complaints before the Viceroy,
the principal points being the Commander's neglect of
reinforcing Socotra and his protracted operations before
Ormuz ; whereupon, at the Viceroy's order, a commis
sion was appointed to inquire into the circumstances
of the case, the text of the document being given in
full, and dated on the 26th of May.
Not long after this time, the fleet^ of Jorge de Aguiar,
which has been already mentioned as setting out on
1 A place of this name is marked on the maps of the coast
between Cape Blanco and Cape Mirik, considerably to the north of
the mouth of the Senegal, and therefore the route as laid down in
the Commentaries has undergone some displacement, but we shall
see further on how the travellers fared.
2 The text of these Commentaries says three vessels — probably
an error of tres for treze (thirteen). The text of the Armudas men
tions the names of fourteen captains ; the marginal note mentions

Iviii INTRODUCTION.
the 9th of April, arrived. It was in this fleet that
notice was sent out to the Viceroy to hand over the
government of India to Afonso Dalboquerque, and to
return to Portugal.
On the 15th of August, Afonso Dalboquerque set
out from Socotra, not so much with the intention of
renewing his attempt upon Ormuz as of observing the
state of affairs, doing what he could towards the con
solidation of the Portuguese power in those parts, and
then rejoining the Viceroy in Cochim.
During the progress of the voyage, the fleet had a
narrow escape from grounding opposite the Curia
Muria Islands ; but, at length, reached Calayate in
safety, and lost no time in attacking the city, which
made a stout defence under Xarafadin {Sharaf Ed-
Deen), routing the defenders, sacking the place, and,
finally, setting flre to the city and burning twenty-
seven merchant ships that lay in the harbour. Not
content with this, Afonso Dalboquerque, who appears
on this occasion to have caught the spirit of Oriental
cruelty, ordered the prisoners to be deprived of their
ears and noses, and then he returned to his ships,"giving
many thanks to Our Lord for the favour He had shown
him in giving him such a city, gained without danger
to our men, with so small a force."
The Commander now, for the first time, heard, from
one of Cogeatar's Envoys, that the Portuguese fleet
thirteen,— that of Ruy da Cunha being omitted, although he is
specially mentioned iu conjunction with Fernao Soares, who does
not appear to have held a captain's commission according to the
Commentaries.

INTRODUCTION. lix
had routed the naval forces of the Mahometans, under
Mirocem, — called by Camoes Mir-Hocem'— and Me-
liquiaz — Mehque Yaz — that affairs at Ormuz were in
a critical state, and that his own fugitive Captains were
with the Viceroy at Cochim. At the receipt of this
startling intelhgence the little fleet repaired to Ormuz,
which was found to have been put into an improved
state of defence ; and, after some time spent in an
angry correspondence full of fruitless complaints, re
criminations and charges of little moment, Afonso
Dalboquerque watered his fleet at the island of Lara,
and determined to remain at anchor in sight of the
city until the end of October, in hopes of a reinforce
ment of ships sent from Portugal to Socotra and dis
patched to reinforce him from that island.
During this second blockade, a successful diversion
was made by the Portuguese, in which a force of five
hundred archers, sent to the assistance of Ormuz from
the Xeque Ismael, was dispersed at Nabande ; and all
seemed favourable to the victors, when the disastrous
loss of Diogo de Melo — who had joined Afonso from
Melinde — off the island of Lara, changed once more
the aspect of affairs ; and a storm, which tried the sea
worthiness of the nearly worn-out ships to the very
utmost, compelled Afonso Dalboquerque again to
abandon his intention of blockading Ormuz and to
steer for India.
This voyage was safely accomphshed, and the Chief
Captain reached Cananor at the beginning of Decem-
1 See vol. ii, pp. 112 and 113, note, for the passages relating to
this event.

Ix INTRODUCTION.
ber, where he found the Viceroy, the deserting Cap
tains, the Commendador Ruy Soarez, and the fleet of
Jorge de Aguiar. Dinis Fernandez, Captain of the
Rey Grande, which had been missing for a little time
previously, arrived a few days afterwards, and with
this event the narrative of the First Part con
cludes. The Second Part of the Commentaries commences
with the request made by Afonso Dalboquerque to the
Viceroy that the office of Governor of India should be
delivered up to him, according to the instructions sent
out from Portugal in the fleet of that year. This de
mand gave an opportunity to the fugitive Captains to
intrigue against their former Chief Captain with the
Viceroy, who desired to remain in office ; constant
bickerings and quarrels arose between Da,lboquerque and
Dalmeida, which were for a while abated, while the
latter was absent in an expedition against the Rumes,
or so-called Roman Turks at Diu, but broke out afresh
on his victorious return, Afonso Dalboquerque having,
meanwhile, gone to Cochim, where the Viceroy cele
brated his victory.
In the meantime, Diogo Lopez de Siqueira, who
had set out from Portugal on the 5th. of April, 1508,
as Chief Captain of four ships bound for Malaca, arrived
at Cochim, after a severe passage of nearly twelve
months' duration. The Viceroy, who pretended that
he desired to carry Afonso Dalboquerque back to
Portugal with him, wished to appoint the newly ar
rived Diogo Lopez Chief Captain of India, but the
latter declined the doubtful comphment, and was not

introduction. Ixi
long before he sailed away to prosecutp his voyage.
At length a final stroke was delivered by the Viceroy
against his successor designate, by causing him to be
arrested and imprisoned in the fortress of Cananor.
But the old proverb, that when things are at their
worst they are sure to mend, was truly exemplified in
the case of Afonso Dalboquerque. His case to all
appearance was desperate, and had it not been for the
indomitable spirit which formed so prominent a trait
in his character, and which had already on several
occasions of peril buoyed him up, and which did not
even now desert him, he would hav6 succumbed to
the disgrace and indignity heaped upon his head at
the very moment when he looked to enjoy the high
reward which his sovereign had thought fit to bestow
upon him for his fidelity and distinguished valour.
His release was brought about by the arrival of his
nephew, the Marshal Dom Fernando Coutinho, at
Cananor, in the month of October, whose expedition
is well and briefly set forth from the "Armadas da
India." DOMi FERNANDO COUTINHO, MARSHAL OF
PORTUGAL, 1509.
" D. Fernando Coutinho, Chief Captain of flfteen
ships, set out on the 12th of March, Captains Fran
cisco de Sa, etc., fifteen ships, containing three thou
sand men. In these ships orders went out that Afonso
Dalboquerque was to govern India. Francisco de Sa
was 'Vedor da Fazenda do Porto'; Lionel Coutinho,
1 For the original Portuguese text, see page 5&, note.

Ixii introduction.
son of Vasco Fernandez Coutinho, went in the Flor da
Rosa; Ruy Freire, son of Nuno Fernandez Freire, in
the Garqa ; Jorge da Cunha in the Magdalena ;
Rodrigo Rabello de Castelbranco in the Santa Clara ;
Bras Teixeira in the Ferroa; Francisco Marecos in the
S. Francisco, etc.
"Of all these fifteen ships, that of Francisco Marecos
alone did not pass over to India.
" The Marshal put Afonso Dalboquerque in posses
sion of the Government of India, and Dom Francisco
de Almeida embarked for the kingdom [of Portugal]
in accordance with the orders of His Highness. After
the departure of the Viceroy, the Governor and the
Marshal went with all their fleet against Calicut, where
they landed, and having destroyed and sacked the
city, the Marshal and many Captains and soldiers were
killed. At the end of this year the Viceroy delivered
up the Government to Afonso Dalboquerque, and sailed
away for the kingdom in three ships, and was. killed
by the Cafres at the watering place of Saldanha, etc."
Afonso Dalboquerque had been in confinement for
three months when the Marshal opportunely arrived,
and the latter, in obedience to his instructions, took
him on, as Captain General of India, to Cochim, which
port they reached safely on the 29th of October. On
the 4th of November the Viceroy had a long conver
sation with the Marshal in reference to the dissensions
between himself and Afonso Dalboquerque, and on
the next day he surrendered the government into Dal
boquerque's hands and embarked on board the Garcia,

introduction. Ixiii
which left India to carry him to Portugal on the 10th
of the same month.
The affairs relating to the succession being now
settled, the Marshal unfolded to his uncle the orders
which he had received from the King to destroy the
city of Calicut, one of the most important strongholds
on the Eastern coast in the power of the Qamorim.'
The King of Cochim created a diversion in favour of
the Portuguese by stirring up war on the interior
frontier of Calicut, and the Portuguese fleet was on
the point of sailing when Vasco da Silveira arrived
from Socotra, bringing an urgent request on the part
of Duarte de Lemos, chief Captain of the Arabian
coast, whose head-quarters were in that island, for new
ships to replace his original fleet, which had fallen into
decay. The unwelcome messenger was put off for a
season, and seized the opportunity of accompanying
the Portuguese fleet to Calicut, where he was killed ;
but on the conclusion of the affair at Calicut, Diogo
Correa was dispatched in the same ship with rein- '
forcements for Socotra, and news of the death of
Vasco da Silveira, the destruction of Calicut, and the
intention of Afonso Dalboquerque to come to Socotra
on his way to the Red Sea in the course of the follow
ing summer. On the receipt of this intelligence,
Duarte de Lemos appointed Pero Ferreira to the
Captaincy of the Fortress, sent D. Afonso de Noronha
1 For the treachery which the Portuguese under Vasco
da Gama experienced here, and the severe punishment which
that navigator visited upon the city, see Lord Stanley's Correa,
chap xvii.

Ixiv introduction.
to India, and he himself returned to winter at
Melinde. Meanwhile, the combined fleet of twenty ships of
war and a crowd of smaller vessels, with a force of
two thousand Portuguese on board, set sail from
Cochim on the 31st of December, 1509, and brought
up in front of the Port of Calicut on the 3rd of
January. On the following day the attack was made
in the absence of the Qamorim, who was on the expedi
tion which had been forced on him by the King of
Cochim. It resulted in the entry of the city, the
burning of the King's Palace, the ultimate retreat of
the Portuguese before a strong reserve force, after
slaying the Catual, the Governor of the city, two
Caimais and three thousand native soldiers, and
the death of ten or twelve of the principal men,
including the Marshal Dom Fernando Coutinho, Vasco
da Silveira, Goncalo Queimado, the Governor's stan
dard-bearer, and Manuel Pecanha (the officer appointed
to succeed in case of the death of the Viceroy), who
had much underrated the resistance of the inhabitants.
Afonso Dalboquerque himself did not escape unhurt,
for he was twice wounded in the shoulders by lances
thrust at him by the enemy over the palisades. Thus
repulsed, the fleet returned to Cochim, two carauelas
being left behind to blockade the harbour.
Nothing daunted at the unsatisfactory result of this
attack, Afonso Dalboquerque sent Frey Luis, a Francis
can Friar, to the neighbouring King of Narsinga, urging
him to come down with a powerful force from the inte
rior and co-operate with the maritime power of the Por-

INTRODUCTION. Ixv
tuguesc, promising in recompense for this aid to give
a monopoly in the trade of horses ' from Ormuz to the
port of Baticala.
Two days after the departure of the Friar to Nar
singa, and of Diogo Correa to Socotra as already
noticed, two vessels of the fleet commanded by Diogo
Lopez de Sequeira arrived with Nuno Vaz de Castelo
Branco, who brought news of the treachery of the
Malays, the arrest of Ruy de Araujo, the factor, and
twenty men, the burning of two ships of the fleet, and
the touching of his Chief Captain at Caecoulao, from
which port they had made their way to Cochim, while
the latter had taken a direct course homewards to
Portugal. The notes descriptive of the Province of Malabar
and the customs of its inhabitants, which follow in the
commentaries immediately after the text of the in
structions to Fr. Luis, in respect of his journey to the
Kingdom of Narsinga, are of course very superflcial,
yet they represent the matters which struck their
observers most forcibly.
There are, however, two points which may be men
tioned here. The flrst is the statement that the Brah-
mans "have knowledge of the Trinity and of Our Lady,
whereby it appears that anciently they were Christians".
With regard to the alleged Christianity which was
observed in this and other districts of India, it must
be borne in mind, that like all early traveUers to that
country, Afonso Dalboquerque, following the lead of
* For an account of the exportation of horses, see Col. Yule's
Marco Polo, vol. i, page 88, note, and vol. ii, page 322, uote.

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.
Vasco da Gama, mistook the followers of Brahma and
Buddha for Christians, because they worshipped the
images of the Virgin and Child which were carried in
the Portuguese ships. These idolaters probably saw
in the Catholic images the representation of their own
Blessed Lady, Maha Madja, holding in her arms her
Son Shakya. Under the influence of the same senti
ments, observing the similarity of the name of the
Indian goddess, and the aureolae or nimbi surrounding
the heads of the mother and her son, the Portuguese
on their part fell into the same mistakes when they
beheld them in the native temples. Nevertheless,
there were without doubt, in the time of Afonso Dal
boquerque and early Portuguese discoverers, a certain
but very moderate number of Nestorian Christians'
on the great continent of India ; a number far below
the calculation of the Portuguese, whose enumeration
of twenty-five thousand Christians and three hundred
churches in one city alone (that of Coulao), and whose
frequently recorded description of the refusal of these
so-called Christians to consort with persons of another
religious belief, clearly points to their mistaking ^ the
highest caste of Indians for a people practising corrupt
1 " In the Province of Malabar there are between Chetua
(Chaitwa) and Coulao many Christians of the time of St. Thomas,
and many churches" — page 79. See Col. Yule's ifarco Po^o, Book
iii, chap. 18, "Discoursing of the place where lieth the body of
St. Thomas the Apostle"; and chap. 22, " Of the kingdom of
Coilum". 2 A similar error was made by Afonso Dalboquerque with re
gard to the subjects ofthe Xeque Ismael.— See page 117.

INTRODUCTION. Ixvil
formp derived from ancient knowledge of the details
of Christianity.
The medicinal remedies (the other point to which
the reader's attention should be directed) described in
the text on p. 79, are so few and simple that it would
appear, if the passage stood alone, that the Indians
had a very imperfect acquaintance with the healing
art; but this is an error arising from the superficial
observation of the Portuguese. Anyone who will take
the trouble to peruse the " Commentary on the Hin
doo System of Medicine", by T. A. Wise, M.D., of the
Bengal Civil Service, (Svo. Calcutta, 1845), or the
first volume of the " Review of .the History of Medi
cine", by the same author, will readily perceive that
the Indians, who, like the ancient Egyptians, were a
nation of druggists, possessed a very extensive phar-
macopceia, and a general knowledge of anatomy, and
that they performed important surgical operations with
a scientific skill that is truly astonishing.
It was not long after the affair at Calicut, before
Afonso Dalboquerque was ready to put into operation
new and far wider schemes of conquest. On the 10th
of February he set out from Cochim again, with a fleet
of twenty-three vessels for Angediva, with the inten
tion of going to Socotra, fulfilling his promise of rein
forcing Duarte de Lemos and passing up the Red Sea,
to destroy the fleet of the Grand Sultan, and having
done this, to complete the fortress of Ormuz which had
been left just commenced.
But the voyage was destined to be interrupted by a
long delay of time spent in an undertaking, the mag-

Ixviii INTRODUCTION.
nitude and successful results of which were not at the
time foreseen, although it now sheds lustre on the
name of Afonso Dalboquerque, and the memory of
that great commander is for ever connected with it.
The fleet had only progressed as far as Mergeu, when
Timoja — formerly a Hindoo corsair, but now self-
raised to a position of great honour — a man completely
in the interest of the Portuguese, visited the Governor,
and dissuaded him from carrying out his intended
voyage. He represented — a tale told to no unwilling
ears — the political disorders at Goa, the intention
entertained by the Mahometans of utilizing that na
turally powerful position as a base of extensive opera
tions, with a view to the expulsion of the Portuguese
from India, the death of "the Qabaio," Lord of Goa,
the youth and helplessness of "the Hidalcao" his son,'
and urged Afonso Dalboquerque to take advantage of
the opportunity presented to him and to seize the
island. At first, Afonso Dalboquerque, with the
tenacity which forms so strong a characteristic of the
Portuguese nation, clung to his original scheme ; but
eventually, after convening a general meeting of all
the Captains, fidalgos, and pilots of the fleet, he
came to see the advantage of the situation, and brought
up in front of Goa, while Timoja's men captured and
took possession of the fortress of Cintacora ; after
which he conducted his fleet over the bar, and set to
work to take soundings of the river.
This proceeding led to the storming and capture of
the tower or castle of Pangij, — otherwise Pangim, and
1 See further on, under the description of Goa.

INTRODUCTION. Ixix
now the site of the principal buildings of Portuguese
Goa, as will be shown in the description of the island
— which commanded the entrance to the bar. The
fall of Pangij so disheartened the Moors, that they
sent a message of surrender, which Afonso Dalbo
querque accepted on conditions of all the Rumes and
Turks (known to be within the city) being delivered
over to him as prisoners. Melique Qufegurgij, the
Governor of the city, however, having learnt by ex
perience the inevitable fate of torture, mutilation and
death, that was in store for these' people if they fell
into the power of the Portuguese, disniantled the for
tress and fled away with the proscribed men, to avoid
the performance of so heinous an act of treachery to
those who had been his allies.
At this part of the text of the Commentaries, a
brief description " of the site and foundation of the
city of Goa" occurs, to which I shall revert hereafter,
comparing it with the account given by Cottineau de
Kloguen, who appears to have devoted considerable
time and special attention to the history and topo
graphy of the island. The notice of the reader must,
however, be directed to the consideration of one im
portant change of native custom in this island which
is alleged to have been brought about by the victorious
Portuguese. The horrible East Indian custom of
burning widows, which, to his lasting credit, Afonso
Dalboquerque prohibited at Goa, (see vol. ii. p. 94),
has been written of from almost every point of view,
and it would be difficult to flnd anything new to
record here conccrninsr this inhuman custom. There

Ixx INTRODUCTION.
is, however, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
(vol. ix, part i, 1876) recently published, a very re
markable and circumstantial account of the hideous
conventionalities in connection with these revolting
practices, obtaining in a part of Asia where Brahminism
flourishes vigorously, which appears to me to exhibit
the newest, the most faithful, and the most painful
picture of these self-inflicted tortures that has ever
been penned. It occurs in "An Account ofthe Island
of Bali" by R. Friederich, and the portions to which
I would especially call attention are these : —
" The burning of widows has attracted most attention
from Europeans. Wonder is expressed at the great num
ber of women sacrificed in this way in former times. It
cannot surprise us to see so many women burnt, particularly
since the women who offer themselves gain the highest dis
tinction, and the sacred writings from the Parvas (divisions
of the Mahabharata) downwards represent this act as praise
worthy and almost necessary. That in India but one wife
follows her husband in death, is naturally explained by the
fact that very few Hindoos have more than one wife. But
little is yet known of the burning of widows among the
princes of India, and as but few independent princes now
exist who are worshippers of Siva, the silence on this sub
ject is easily accounted for. . . . The names giveii to
the burning of widows are Satia?- and Bela. Satia is the
burning of a wife who, from a platform erected for the pur
pose, throws herself into the same fire with her husband, com
mitting suicide with the creese at the same time. Bela, on
the contrary, is the burning of a wife who is burnt in a separate
fire, not with her husband, jum.fing into it alive, without
using the creese. This latter method is not thought so
much of, but is the more common. The words Satia and
^ Suttee.

INTRODUCTION. Ixxi
Bela, are Indian — Satia is truth, fidelity ; the wife who dies
in this way is Satiaioati, a true faithful woman, who has per
formed in aU things her duty to her husband. Bela is
retaliation, or rather the Sanskrit tveld, sudden and easy
death. This is rendered clear by the way in which it takes
place ; and further by the fact that the sacrifice of the fol
lowers of a prince defeated in war, who then die together
in an amok is also called Bela, . . . and the women
who sacrifice themselves are indeed, as a rule, slaves, for
they are mostly from the fourth caste — the Sitdras — at least
all the concubines are ; but their immolation is voluntary.
From the moment that they declare themselves ready to
be burnt alive, they are holy persons; they enjoy all the
honours of the Pitaras. They may no longer tread the
ground, but must always be carried. Offerings are even
made to them, and all their wishes are satisfied. Never
theless, the successor of the deceased simply regards such
concubines as the servants who will be required by his
father after his cremation. The women themselves are
excited by religious ideas ; a female priest always accom
panies them till the moment of death, and describes to
themj in glowing colours, the happiness of life in Swarga,
the rise to a higher caste, and how they will thereby become
the lawful vpives of the deceased. To these deceptions
must be added the honour and the advantages which the
woman's relations expect to receive from the prince's
successor; the men of her family have a claim to oflBces.
They are, therefore, the only persons who sometimes use
means of compulsion to prevent the women from retracting.
They accompany the victim of the family ; they keep up
the fire, and, if the woman hesitates, tip up the plank on
which she stands above the fire, so that she falls in against
her will. These cases, however, are of rare occurrence.
Deception of the imagination and the use of opium have
generally made the victims quite indifferent, and they jump
into a fire as if it were a bath.
" Eight days after the death of a prince or noble, his

Ixxii INTRODUCTION.
wives are asked whether any of them wish to follow him into
the fire, those who then state their willingness are accepted,
and, during the interval before the cremation, are shown
the above honours. They cannot easily change their minds ;
the opposition of their relatives, and the shame which would
attach to them, as well as the deceptions of the priests,
hold them back. The women who may wish to give in
their names after the period of eight days are not accepted,
perhaps in order to avoid the appearance of compulsion.
The women who have offered themselves to be burned, lead
thenceforward a life of pleasure and enjoy much greater
honour than they ever knew before. This again is a reason
why they should not change their minds during the interval,
sometimes a long one, before the cremation.''
Mr. Friederich then goes on to relate the details of
a cremation of which he was an eye-witness. He says :
"On the 20tli December, 1847, the Prince of Gianyar
was burnt. The corpse was followed by the three wives (con
cubines) who became Betas. A procession went before
them as before the body. They, like the body, were seated
in the highest storeys of the Bades} After the body of the
prince had arrived at the place of cremation, the three
Belas, in their Bades — each preceded by the bearers of the
offerings destined for her, with armed men and bands of
music^ were conducted to the three fires.
1 The funeral pyres. The Bade "rests on a basis of bamboo,
concealed by handsome hangings, under which the bearers place
themselves, to move this structure along. On this foundation
there is a pyramid of wood-work or bamboo, in from three to
eleven stories."
2 This agrees with the account in the Commentaries, Part ii,
chapter xx. " Tinham por costume, que se algum Gentio morria,
a mulher se avia de queimar por sua vontade ; e quando hia a este
sacrificio, era com graudes festas, e tangeres, dizendo que queria ir
acompanhar seu marido ao outro Mundo ; e a que isto nao fazia,
era lan^ada dantre as outras, e ficava ganhando por seu corpo pera

INTROD QCTION. Ixxiii
" Their Bades were also turned round three times and
were carried round the whole place of cremation. The
women were then carried down steps from the Bades,
and up the steps of the places erected for their cremation.
These places consisted of a square of masonry three feet
high, filled with combustibles, which had been burning
since the morning, and threw out a glowing heat ; the per
sons appointed to watch them fed the fire, and at the
moment when the women leaped down, poured upon it a
quantity of oil and arrack, so that it flared up to a height
of eight feet, and must have suffocated the victims at once.
Behind this furnace stood an erection of bamboo, in the
form of a bridge, of the same width as the square of
masonry, and about forty feet long and from sixteen to
eighteen feet high; steps of bamboo led up to it in the
rear. In the centre there is a small house, affording a last
resting place to the victim, in which she waits until the
ceremonies for her husband are finished, and his body has
begun to burn. The side of the bamboo scaffold nearest
to the fire is protected by a wall of wet Pisang-stems.
Upon the bridge lies a plank smeared with oil, which is
pushed out a little over the fire, as soon as the time
for the leap draws near. At first there is a door at the
end of the bridge, and this is not removed till the last
minute. The victim sits in the house on the bridge, accom
panied by a female priest and by her relatives. They all
speak to her of the happiness which she will now shortly en
joy with her husband. She then makes her toilet ; her hair
especially is combed, the mirror used, and her garments
newly arranged. She arrays herself exactly as she would
for a feast. Her dress is white, her breasts are covered with
as obras do pagode, de que era freguez ; e como Afonso Dalbo
querque tomou 0 Reyno de Goa, nao consentio que dali por diante
se queimasse mais nenhuma mulher ; e posto que mudar costume
seja parelha de morte, todavia elias folgaram com a vida, e diziam
grandes bens delle, por Ihes mandar que se nao queimassem." —
See page 94.

Ixxiv INTRODUCTION.
a white slendang ; she wears no ornaments, and after all the
preparations to which it has been subjected, her hair at the
last moment hangs quite loose. When the corpse of the
prince was almost consumed, the three Belas got ready ;
they glanced one towards another, to convince themselves
that all was prepared, but this was not a glance of fear, but
of impatience, and it seemed to express a wish that they
might leap at the sarae moment. When the door had been
opened, and the plank smeared with oil and pushed out,
each took her place on her plank, made three sembahs by
joining her hands above her head, and one of the bystanders
placed a small dove (titiran) upon her head. When the
dove flies away, the soul is considered to escape. They
then immediately leaped down. There was no cry in leaping,
no cry from the fire, they must have been suffocated at once.
One of the Europeans present succeeded in pushing through
the crowd to the fire, and in seeing the body some seconds
after the leap ; it was dead, and its movements were caused
merely by the combustion of the materials cast upon the
flames. On other occasions, however, Europeans have
heard cries uttered in leaping, and in the first moments
afterwards. ''During the whole time, from the burning of the prince
till the leap of the victims, the air resounded with the
clangour and noise of the numerous bands of music. The
soldiers had drawn up outside the square, and contributed
to the noise by firing off their muskets. Besides these some
small cannon were discharged. There was not one of the
50,000 Balinese present who did not show a merry face, no
one was filled with repugnance and disgust, except a few
Europeans, whose only desire was to see the end of such
barbarities. The Bahnese look upon this cremation simply
as the consummation of their religious and domestic duties.
No one sees any cruelty in it. Yet, as the all powerful
priests attach little importance to it for their own caste,
with their aid the diminution and abohtion of these human
sacrifices among the other castes might be effected. The

INTRODUCTION. IxXV
priests' interest in maintaining it is, alas ! a monetary one ;
and therefore no help can be expected from them."
If Afonso Dalboquerque really succeeded in suppress
ing at Goa scenes such as these, it goes a great way
towards the redemption of his character from the charge
of cruelty which has been made against him by reason
of his conduct at Ormuz, and on other occasions.
On the day after the flight of the Captain of Goa,
the Portuguese fleet, except the large ships,^ which
were prudently anchored just outside the bar, steered
to the city — containing a force of a thousand Portu
guese, and two hundred men of Malabar. Afonso
Dalboquerque went in procession to the Castle, where
the keys of the fortress were delivered to him, inspected
the Palace and Arsenals, and took possession of the
wives and children of the fugitive Rumes and Turks.
Immediately afterwards, he rewarded and dismissed
the Cananor ships, which had accompanied him, on
their appointed voyage, and dispatched Timoja to
destroy the Castle of Banda, a neighbouring strong
hold still in possession of the Turks. But, before the
expedition arrived at the Castle, the Turks fled away,
and the Hindoos, who were friendly to the Portuguese,
were allowed to hold it, on promise of obedience.
Similar proceedings took place at the neighbouring
fortress of Condal.
But Afonso Dalboquerque strongly felt the urgent
necessity of fortifying the position which he had so
gloriously won, before the enemy, who had recoiled
1 The names of these were Sancta Clara, Cirne, Flor-de-la-Mar,
and Flor da Rosa.

Ixxvi INTRODUCTION.
before him, should have time to regain courage and
concentrate their vastly superior numbers against him.
Foundations for a fortress of very imposing strength
were laid, and a turn of work allotted to every one ;
and, after some demur on the part of the Governor of
India, who probably distrusted the old Hindoo corsair
after all, Timoja was appointed chief Alguazil of the
Kingdom of Goa, in the name of the King of Portugal,
on condition of his paying a yearly favour or tribute
of one hundred thousand cruzados.
On the fall of Goa, two ambassadors — the one from
the Xeque Ismael, the other from the King of Ormuz,
who were in the city with the object of enlisting the
power of the Hidalcao against the Portuguese — had
an audience of the victorious Governor. To the former,
who demanded in vain the introduction of the laws
and currency of the Xeque into the territory of Goa,
an envoy was promised ; and no time was lost in
fitting out Ruy Gomez, — a Portuguese of position at
home, who had come to India under some kind of
banishment— and the Xeque's ambassador, in two ships,
with a letter from Afonso Dalboquerque to Xeque
Ismael, announcing his intention of revisiting Ormuz
very soon, offering terms of an alliance, and with
special and minute instructions for the conduct of the
Portuguese envoy and his interpreter. Ruy Gomez
also carried a letter from Dalboquerque to the King of
Ormuz. But, on arriving at this city, Cogeatar, who
had succeeded in his policy against the Portuguese, iU-
treated the messenger, and procured his death by poison,
so that the intended communication with the Xeque
Ismael was never carried out.

INTRODUCTION. Ixxvii
When this Embassy had set out, Afonso Dalbo
querque sent Francisco Pantoja to visit Afonso de
Noronha, the Captain of Socotra, with a shipload of
supplies, and a letter to Duarte de Lemos, explaining
the delay which had befallen the fleet. On his way,
the messenger, Pantoja, captured a Cambay ship of six
hundred tons — the Meri — bound for Mecca, which he
took into Socotra. There he found Duarte de Lemos
with four ships, waiting for the arrival of Dalboquerque,
Pero Ferreira acting as Captain of Fort S. Miguel, and
D. Afonso de Noronha already set out since last April
to India.
Duarte de Lemos was greatly irritated by this second
procrastination of much-needed succour ; he laid hands
upon the Meri prize, claiming her as captured within
the limits of his jurisdiction ; and leaving Pero Ferriera
in charge, took Francisco Pantoja and the prize away
to Cananor, and, arriving on the 31st August, found
Afonso Dalboquerque had returned thither from Goa
just shortly before him.
In the meantime, Afonso Dalboquerque set himself
to the task of consolidating his position at Goa. The
annual revenue, which was originally paid by the in
habitants to their native rulers, had been 150,000
xerafins, and though this had been doubled under the
rule of the ^abaio, it was now again flxed at tbe first
sum above mentioned. Tanadares, or receivers of
taxes, were appointed under the arrangements of Joao
Alvarez de Caminha, from among Portuguese and
Hindoos of suitable, position ; and a new Portuguese
coinage of gold, silver, and copper, in accordance with

Ixxviii INTRODUCTION.
the necessities of the currency, issued, the coins of the
(^abaio being withdrawn from circulation. Supplies
were collected from all parts, the xdbandar — or superin
tendent of the coast — enjoined to look to thej collec
tion of horses and other importations, and Francisco
Serrao dispatched at the beginning of winter, early in
April 1510, to carry news to Cochim of the capture of
Goa, and to take back stores. But by this time in
formation began to reach the Governor that the
Hidalgao was preparing for an early attempt to regain
his lost territory ; and the captains were commencing
to murmur against the hardships and toil to which
they were subjected. Yet out of a desire to complete
the font, Afonso Dalboquerque put up with all, and
contented himself with reprimanding the chief instiga
tor of the disaffection.
The first indication of the overwhelming forces that
were about to be massed against the small Portu
guese army was conveyed in a letter from Mandaloy,
the friendly chief of Condal, to Afonso Dalboquerque,
informing him of overtures made to the Hidalcao by
the chiefs of Pervaloy, Sanguigar, and Carrapetao, dis
tricts adjacent to Goa on the interior side. Accord
ingly Jorge da Cunha and sixty horsemen, together
with Menaique and Melique Qufecondal, two native
captains, and 4,000 native troopers, were dispatched
with a large detachment to co-operate with Mandaloy ;
a squadron of three vessels commanded by Diogo
Fernandez de Bejd, being also told off for the same
purpose. The detachment had not, however, crossed
over from the Island of Divar (or Divarij) to the main-

INTRODUCTION. Ixxix
land when news reached Jorge da Cunha of the arri
val of the advanced guard of HidalcSo in the neigh
bouring districts of Banda and Condal. When this had
been reported to Afonso Dalboquerque another smaller
detachment was sent out under the guidance of Diogo
Fernandez, and twelve horsemen, with Mirale in com
mand of one thousand Canarese peons ; and marching
in the darkness of the night, this force came. up sud
denly with the vanguard of the Hidalcao's troops, and
was so utterly dispersed that half the number of the
peons were lost, the remainder making their way back
with difficulty to Goa.
By this movement, although it entailed a loss of men
who could be ill spared, Afonso Dalboquerque had at
length obtained definite news of the position of the
enemy, who was found to be advancing towards
Benastarim ; Jorge da Cunha was recalled and the
friendly Bersore, king of Gargopa, who declared him
self ready to fight for the Portuguese, was encouraged
to hold himself in readiness for the enemy. The strong
places of the Island of Goa were now inspected by the
Govemor ; Benastarim, Old Goa (the ancient city), the
passes of Augij, Gondalij, and Agacij reinforced ; the
whole floating strength reviewed under D. Antonio de
Noronha ; and the xabandar, being found guilty of
unpermitted communication with the enemy, put to
death. By the time that all these preparations had
been effected, the Hidalcao had conducted his forces
as far towards the Portuguese as the suburb of Benas
tarim, where. Garcia de Sousa shot down some of the
outposts and set fire to a mosque which they held :

IXXX INTRODUCTION.
and not long after, three deserters, a Cretan, an Alba
nian, and a Russian, reached the Portuguese lines.
Negociations thereupon commenced with the mis
sion of Joao Machado, a Portuguese, and a Venetian
whose name is not recorded, two foreigners in the
service of the Hidalcao ; these declared the strenuous
efforts of the Hidalcao to recover possession of the
island, and the readiness of the inhabitants to co-operate
with any chance accession of native forces against the
Portuguese. Afonso Dalboquerque, however, refused
to evacuate Goa on any account, and Baldrez, a Portu
guese hostage in the camp of the Moors, reported, on
his return, their extensive arrangements for an attack
on the island, in the course of which they were
prepared to sacrifice a million of men. Timoja him
self confirmed the information which had been obtained
from the sources already mentioned, and advised
Afonso Dalboquerque to shut up the head men,
women, and children, not only of the Moors but of
the Hindoos as well, a proceeding which was inaugu
rated by the incarceration of Timoja's own family
among the first. No other harm appears to have been
offered tp these persons than incarceration ; but the
wives and children of the Rumes, who were absent in
the enemy's camp, were taken for slaves, as an example
of vengeance visited upon the subjects of the Grand
Sultan of Cairo.
A stockade was erected by Garcia de Sousa at
Benastarim ; the pass of Augij reinforced with native
troops; a general inspection made by Afonso Dal
boquerque throughout the island ; Melique Qufecondal

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxi
imprisoned for improper communication with the
enemy ; and Diogo Fernandez de Beja, on his return
from Condal, where he bad manoeuvred in support of
Jorge da Cunha, dispatched to the assistance of
D. Antonio de Noronha, whose special duty was to
defend the island from any attempted crossing en masse,
and principally at the pass of Augij, where Timoja's
contingent was posted. The friendly Mandaloy made
a diversion against the Hidalcao with four thousand
men, overran the passes, cut off the enemy's supphes,
and wrote to Timoja that he would fall upon the
Hidalcao in concert with any attack made by the
Portuguese. But, notwithstanding the great exertions made by
the Portuguese to retain possession of the Island of
Goa, their unabated vigilance and intrepid valour were
outweighed by the vastly superior numbers of native
warriors hurled against them. On the night of Fri
day, the 17th May, 1510, — the depth of the Indian
winter — three hundred Turks crossed over at Augij'-
on rafts, unperceived by the Portuguese lookouts, and
a second detachment of seven hundred were in the act
of crossing when they were discovered, and the artillery
from the fleet, under command of D. Antonio, very
quickly dispersed and destroyed them. In the mean
time, however, another body of two thousand Turks
crossed over a lagoon of mud and weeds, overcame the
resistance offered to their progress by Jorge da Cunha
and Timoja's captain Menaique, and with their num-
1 The chapter heading, page 154, xe&i\.s Agacij, by a typographi
cal error of the Portuguese Edition, in place of Augij.

Ixxxii INTRODUCTION.
bers augmented by the addition of some of Timoja's
men who fraternised with them, ran to Benastarim,
where they compelled Garcia de Sousa to withdraw to
Goa, and flnally proceeded to Gondalij, where Francisco
de Sousa Mancias and Francisco Pereira Coutinho
retreated in like manner on the approach of the enemy
in such great force.
The Moorish inhabitants of Goa were by this time
in a violent state of excitement, and rose up against the
Portuguese ; and Afonso Dalboquerque, after dispatch
ing Diogo Fernandez to the assistance of Jorge da
Cunha, who with difficulty was making his way to safer
quarters with the main body, caused the city to be set
on fire in four places, and fell upon the enemy with
the sword, without giving quarter to any. Timoja
himself nearly fell a victim to the Moors, but he was
rescued, and all withdrew to the fortress, with a loss
of thirty Portuguese killed and as many wounded,
leaving to the Hidalcao possession of the burning
walls of the great city of Goa, and the disfigured
corpses of an uncounted number of his soldiers and
subjects. At first, it was the intention of the Governor of
India to withstand a siege in the fortress of Goa — the
great strength of which the writer of the Commentaries
contrasts with the fortifications of Rhodes — yet on
reflection that upon the safety of the fleet the mainten
ance of all his Indian possessions depended, and not
without misgivings with regard to the fidelity of his
captains — a bitter lesson which he had learnt at Ormuz
under circumstances somewhat like the present — he

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxiii
decided to withdraw to his ships and drop down the
river to Pangij. This movement was carried out on
Friday,^ 20th of May, 1510, after embarking all the
stores and provisions, and the natives he had in his
power, decapitating Melique Qufecondal and a hundred
and flfty principal Moors, hamstringing the horses in
the stables, and burning the arsenal. The captains
endeavoured by every means in their power to compel
Afonso Dalboquerque to sail away over the bar of Goa,
and no amount of reasoning had any effect with these
malcontents until the wreck of the St. John, which
had been ordered to cross over, convinced even the
most sceptical of .the fruitlessness and foolhardiness of
such an attempt at that season. In the meantime,
the enemy, who had posted a strong force in the castle
of Pangij which commanded the anchorage, began to
harass the fleet; and the report of the shortness of
provisions, which had reached the Hidalcao through
two deserters, revived a hope in that chief that the
Portuguese would be driven to come to terms ; but
Afonso Dalboquerque rejected all overtures, and feel
ing that the position of Pangij must be carried at all
hazards, organised an attack which resulted in a suc
cessful entry of that fortress on the 14th June, and a
slaughter of upwards of two hundred and fifty Turks
and peons.
A report that the HidalcSo was preparing a fleet,
induced Afonso Dalboquerque to send a reconnoitring
party, which unfortunately terminated in the mortal
wounding of his nephew D. Antonio de Noronha,
1 The 20th May, 1510, fell on a Monday.

Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION.
while attempting to launch a galeot that was found
on the stocks in the dockyards by this expedition.
This young captain, full of promise of military renown,
died shortly afterwards on the Sth of July.
The Hidalcao did not, however, cease his endeavours
to arrange terms with the Portuguese, but without
achieving any diplomatic success, although Afonso
Dalboquerque honoured the noble Mahometan Pleni
potentiary Mostafacao with a reception due to his
rank, and accorded to him a private interview, where
the offer of Cintacora in lieu of Goa was made to, and
rejected by, the Portuguese Commander, followed by
an implied proposal to yield up Goa itself, if Timoja
were delivered into the hands of the Turks. But this
was a proposition which Afonso Dalboquerque dis
missed with well merited rebuke and indignation.
It was during the time that the Portuguese fleet
was riding at anchor withinside the bar, that the
affair of Ruy Diaz occurred, which has been brought
forward so prominently in reference to the character
of Afonso Dalboquerque. Divested of its sensational
aspects, the case appears plainly enough to resolve
itself into a flagrant instance of insubordination, and
illicit communication with the enemy ; for there is no
doubt that the Moorish women, whom the unfortunate
man was in the habit of visiting, were likely to tamper
with him to compass their own liberty, and the destruc
tion of the hostile fleet — and this at a time when
affairs were in a most critical and unsatisfactory situa
tion, an element which added considerably to the
gravity of the offence. Sharp and sure as was the

INTRODUCTION. IxXXV
retributive punishment meted out to the offender, an
example was needed to reduce the extensive and
growing discontent and rebellious spirit which was
rife among the officers ; and there is little doubt that
the fate of this person not only operated beneficially
upon the disorderly dispositions of these men, but also
that it was the means of preserving the whole party
from a planned and inevitable destruction, had the
matter not been found out in time.
Not long after this event, the prevailing sickness
and want of all kinds of provisions forced Afonso Dal
boquerque — much against his will, for he had set his
mind on regaining possession of the Island of Goa —
to dispatch D. Joao de Lima to Angediva, and Timoja
to Onor for supplies, in the middle of July. But they
could not get over the bar, and on tbe 21st of the
same month, when, wearied with the importunities of
his men, his whole fleet stood over to the bar, Afonso
found the little squadron still at anchor, waiting for
deeper water and better weather. In the meantime
the enemy mustered in great strength at Bradez (or
Bardes) and harassed the fleet with artillery, which
drove it to return and reoccupy its old anchorage in
the river ; and it was not until the end of the month
that Joao de Lima and Timoja were able to get over
the bar, and sail for their respective destinations.
After the departure of these captains, redoubled
pressure was put upon the Governor, who at length,
on the 16th of August, passed over the bar with the
remainder of his fleet and directed his course for
Angediva. On that very day he sighted a fleet which

Ixxxvi INTRODUCTION.
had been sent out from Portugal under Diogo Mendez
de Vasconcellos, particulars of which, from the MS.
Armadas da India, are given at page 196.
"DIOGO MENDEZ DE VASCONCELLOS, CHIEF
CAPTAIN, 1510.
" Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos, Chief Captain of
four ships, set out on the 12th of March to go and
conquer Malaca ; — Captains Balthazar da Sylva, Pero
Caresma, Misser Serniche, Master-at-Arms. And in
the same year there set out as Chief Captain of three
caravelas, Joao Serrao : Captains Pero da Sousa,
Gaspar Cao ; and this was to go and explore the Island
of Sao Lourengo, and establish therein a factory, which
was not carried out.^
" In the same year Gongalo de Siqueira, Chief Cap
tain of seven ships, set out on the 16th March,^ Captains
Lourenco Moreno, Joao de Aveiro, Jorge Nunes de
Leao, Lourengo Lopez, Manoel da Cunha, who was
lost close by Mogambique, and Diogo Lobbo d'Alualade.
"Diogo Mendes de Vasconselos did not complete
his voyage to Malaca in accordance with the Royal
' " Joao Serrao, Chief Captain of three sail, or caravelas, set out
in the month of August, 1510. Another account calls Pero de
Souza Payo de Souza, and does not record the name of the other
captain, but only says that he was a cavalier of the king's house
hold." 2 " Manoel da Cunha was the son of Tristao da Cunha, — he was
lost. Jorge Nunes de Leon went in the ship Sta. Anna. Joao de
Aveiro, because he was well qualified in the art of the sea, served
also as pilot to the ship S. Sebastian, in which he sailed. Manoel
da Cunha was lost, with all his people, close to Mogambique.
Gongalo de Siqueira, on the return joumey to Portugal, wintered
in Motjambique, and arrived iu the year 'twelve."

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxvii
instructions, because the Governor Afonso Dalboquer
que prevented him.
"Of these fourteen ships the flrst four, whereof
Diogo Mendez de Vasconsellos was Chief Captain, was
to go to Malaca to establish the trade there. The
seven of which Gongalo de Siqueira was Chief Captain
were to go and carry the cargo of spiceries. The
three of which Joao Serrao was Chief Captain, were
sent by the King to explore the Island of S. Lourengo,
and to establish a trade in ginger with the natives in
the port of Matatana."
On the 1 7th of August, the united fleets of Afonso
Dalboquerque from Goa, and of Diogo Mendez de
Vasconcellos from Portugal, anchored off Angediva ;
but without loss of time all proceeded to Onor two
days afterwards. At this latter port Bras Vieira, the
Portuguese Tanadar of Cintacora, was found, having
saved himself from molestation, when Goa was retaken,
by a timely flight. Timoja was also found here, and
this chief imparted to Afonso Dalboquerque the latest
information of doings in Goa, — that three days after
the departure of the Portuguese fleet, the Hidalcao had
commenced removing his forces, and the inhabitants
of the lands conterminous to Goa had revolted and
massacred the Moorish Tanadars.
On the 26th of August, Afonso Dalboquerque and
Diogo Mendez reached Cananor, where news was
received that a large force had set forth from Suez to
reinforce Goa. This determined Afonso Dalboquerque
to exercise a discretionary power undoubtedly vested

Ixxxviii INTRODUCTION.
in the Governor of India, and to strengthen his forces
by temporarily diverting the fleet of Diogo Mendez
de Vasconcellos, which was destined for Malaca, from
that adventure, to go with him to Goa.
A ceremonious interview was then held with the
King of Cananor, and the formal delivery to hira of
the keys of the Portuguese fortress made— the King
handing them back again immediately to the Portu
guese captain. Two days afterwards, Duarte de Lemos
arrived from Socotra with Francisco de Pantoja, and
the prize ship Meri, respecting the disposal of which
they were at variance. Duarte de Lemos brought
disappointing intelligence of the supposed fate of the
Governor's nephew, D. Afonso de Noronha, who had
sailed in the Sancta Cruz for India in the previous
April, and had been heard of no more. But almost
immediately afterwards an ambassador from the King
of Cambaya^ brought a letter to Afonso Dalboquerque
from the shipwrecked party detailing the loss of their
ships by a storm at Nabande, a Guzarate port, and
another letter from Gopicaiga, Chief Alguazil of the
King of Cambaya, to Afonso Dalboquerque, the receipt
of which offended Duarte de Lemos, who considered
that Cambaya lay within the limits of his jurisdiction.
From- this time forward Duarte de Lemos, Jeronymo
Teixeira, and Francisco de Sd intrigued against their
chief. Afonso Dalboquerque replied to the missive in
amicable terms, the letter being dated from Cananor,
1 For an early account of Cambaya, with useful notes, see Col.
Yule's Marco Polo, vol. ii, page 389.

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxix
on the 1 6th of September ; and organised two detach
ments of three vessels each, under SimSo Martinz and
Garcia de Sousa, to cruise about and intercept vessels
coming from the Red Sea to India. Diogo Mendez
de Vasconcellos was by this time become very desirous
of going on to Malaca, and a council was held in
which the advantages for his remaining with the
Governor in order to co-operate in the projected expedi
tion to Goa were discussed and adopted. On the Sth
of September, Lourengo Moreno arrived from Portu
gal, in advance of the fleet of Goncalo de Siqueira, of
which his ship formed part, as already mentioned ;
and he was dispatched to conclude a treaty with the
rulers of Baticald, and to carry a letter to Timoja at
Onor, advising him to be ready to take part in the
second attack on Goa.
The cruise of Simao Martinz resulted in the cap
ture of a Mecca ship bound for Calicut, in which were
two Castilian Jews, from whom the interesting news
was obtained that the Grand Sultan would not be able
to attend to Indian Affairs for the present year on
account of internal dissensions, and that they had met
Fernao Gomez^ at Suakim en route for Judd. Some
particulars of the ensuing adventures of these two Jews
are also recorded at this place in the text.
On the 16th of September, Gongalo de Sequeira
arrived at Cananor, bringing orders from Portugal for
the retum of Duarte de Lemos and the incorporation
of his fleet and men with those already under Afonso
Dalboquerque. A meeting was held wherein it was
1 See above, page Ivii.

xc INTRODUCTION.
decided that a combined effort should be made to
regain possession of Goa ; and in consequence of a
-communication from the friendly King of Cochim, the
Governor left Duarte de Lemos as Vice-Governor at
Cananor, and proceeded to Cochim with all his forces
on the 22nd of September, arriving four days later on,
and establishing the newdy acceded king on the throne
of his late uncle, in accordance with the Indian law
of succession.^
At Cochim another deliberation was held, which
appears to have been on the 10th of October, 1510,
according to the Preface to Lord Stanley's Correa,
page xxi, where the text of the original document in
the Torre do Tombo is translated, and the opposition
of the celebrated Magellan to the plans of the Gover
nor indicated. This council discussed the advisability
of the crews of the ships of burden going to the fight
at Goa, while their cargoes were completed at Cochim,
and from the document we gather the following names
of those present at the council, nearly all, if not quite
all of whom were comprised in the list of Alboquer-
que's fleet against Goa : — Nuno Vaz, captain of the
ship captured from the Rumes ; Antonio da Costa, of
Rey Pequeno ; Duarte da Silva, of the Great Galley ;
Simao Martins ; Dom JoSo de Lima, of the S. Maria
d'Ajuda ; Sebastiao de Miranda, of the Little Galley ;
Fernao de MagalhSes ; Jeronimo Teixeira of the
S. Maria do Campo; Jorge da Silveira; Francisco
de Sousa, of the Boa Ventura ; Manuel da Cunha ;
Garcia de Sousa, in the Santa Clara ; Francisco Cor-
^ See pages 77, 78.

INTRODUCTION. XCI
vinel in the Sant Jago ; Lourengo de Paiva; Antonio
Real, chief alcalde of Cochim; and Gongalo de Sequeira.
The last named Chief Captain was adverse to the
proposal of taking the ships of burden to Goa, but
Afonso Dalboquerque, who had already determined to
let nothing delay his enterprise, declared his inten
tion of starting with those who chose to go with
him voluntarily ; and proceeded to Cananor, where he
found Lourengo, who had returned from Baticala,
where he had been unable to settle the terms of the
projected treaty, and with news of the preparations of
Timoja and the King of Gargopa for co-operating in
the attack on Goa. This second part of the Com
mentaries concludes with the dispatch of Lourengo
Moreno to Cochim, and of Duarte de Lemos as Chief
Captain of seven ships to Portugal with the rare freight
of three elephants as an offering to the king.
The beginning of Afonso Dalboquerque's career is
thus in these volumes for the flrst time presented to the
English reader in the form of a literal translation from
the Portuguese Commentaries, the present volume
bringing down the events of his life to the repulse at
Goa, and the eve of the second and successful attack.
The details of the attack, the consolidation of Portu
guese power in the city as a capital of that nation's
Indian Empire, the capture of Malaca, the taking of
the fortress of Ormuz, Dalboquerque's battles and
wars on the Arabian coast, his preparations for
settling the factory and Portuguese fortress at Ormuz,
and his death on shipboard at the bar of Goa on the
16th December, 1515, form the leading themes of the

XCU INTRODUCTION.
concluding parts of the work, and it would be prema
ture to dilate upon these subjects on this occasion.
The principal events in the history of Portuguese
India subsequent to the death of this great Governor
must be told here in very few words, for the reigns of
Emmanuel and Joao III have been described by many
writers as the golden age of Portuguese India ; the
reigns of Sebiastiao and Philip II, the silver age ; and
subsequent reigns down to the loss of Cochim, when a
fatal blow was dealt once and for ever to Portuguese
rule in India, the age of wars. During the rule of
Lopo Vas de Sampayo, the governor appointed in
1526, parts of the Moluccas, Mangalor on the Mala
bar Coast, and the island of Maim or Bombay, were
taken possession of by the Portuguese ; and in 1529,
Nuno da Cunha succeeded as Governor. He took the
cities of Bagaim and Damao from Bahadur Shah,
King of Guzerat, and afterwards the fortress and
Island of Diu. In 1539, Estevao da Gama was Go
vernor of Goa. He is illustrious for his successful
expedition into the Red Sea, penetrating to Mount
Sinai, where, at the Shrine of St. Catherine, patroness
of Goa, he caused himself and his companions to be
knighted. The celebrated Joao de Castro, the history
of whose deeds requires a separate treatment at the
hands of the Hakluyt Society, was Governor of Goa
in 1545. His great fame rests upon the rehef of Diu,
when JoSo de Mascarenhas,^ the governor of that
fortress, was besieged.
1 There is au unpublished life of this hero among the Altamira
MSS., in the British Museum.— Add. MS., No. 28,460.

INTRODUCTION. XCIU
On the resumption of the siege of Diu by the King
of Cambaya, D. Joao de Castro inflicted upon that
potentate a disastrous defeat, and conquered the whole
kingdom of Diu in 1547. The life of this great man
has been carefully written by Jacinto Freyre de An-
drada, and an English translation of this valuable
literary work would be vforthy to be issued under the
auspices of the Hakluyt Society, which has done so
much towards the elucidation of the doings of the
Portuguese both in the Old World and the New.
During the Viceroyalty of Luiz de Ataide (1568), Goa
was besieged by Ali Idalshaw or Hidalkhan, King of
Bijapoor. The close of the sixteenth century is memorable in
the history of Portuguese India for the endeavour to
reconcile the heretical Syrian Church of Travancore
to Rome.^ During the Viceroyalty of Joao de Silva
Telles de Menezes, Goa was attacked by the Dutch, and
from this time the decline of Goa became a matter of
a few years ; Cochim and the settlements of the coast
of Malabar falling to the same nation between 1662
and 1666.
The causes of the decay of Portuguese power in
India, and indeed throughout the East, where at one
time they were all powerful, are too manifold to be
1 The chief authorities, according to Mr. Tolbort (whose work
wiU be described further on), are : — Gouvea, Jornada doArcebispo
de Goa; D. Fr. Aleixo de Meneses, As Terras de Malabar; Geddes,
History ofthe Church of Malabar; La Croze, Histoire du Christia-
nisme des Indes ; and other works by Hough, Lee, Howard, and
Day.

XCIV INTRODUCTION.
explained at length in this place. This fall of power
was principally induced by the neglect of the mer
chants properly to provide for the markets of Europe,
a work which, although vitally necessary to the main
tenance of their position, was left to other more
enthusiastic, and by this time more political, nations.
Hence arose the powerful competition of Spain, Hol
land, England, France, and Denmark, all of which
countries entered into mercantile relations with India
and America. In the first voyage round the world, in
1519, the Portuguese Magalhaes, in Spanish service, dis
covered the only other possible route to India, through
the Straits justly named after him, where he visited
the Moluccas and Philippines, and in that latter group
he met his death in 1521. Spain occupied the fruitful
Philippine Islands in 1564, and before the sixteenth
century closed, the English, after despairing of the
achievement of finding a north-east or north-west
passage, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and by this
act initiated their present proud position in the con
tinent of India.
By means of this great accession of commerce
throughout Europe, the maritime power of the Euro
pean nations gradually assumed more powerful pro
portions, arts and manufactures were stimulated,
poor countries became rich, and in improved commerce
were found at length the only resources for adding to
the strength and influence of empires, and the only
means of carrying out imperial plans of aggrandise
ment and extension. The most powerful rival, and the
one that did the most to cast down the paramount

INTRODUCTION. XCV
Lusitanian supremacy in the East, was Holland ; for
while England was struggling for that political free
dom without which the English merchant service could
not exercise any vital functions, the Dutch, who had
passed through this political trial, and had already
erected their kingdom into a free republic, were the
real masters of the sea. The middle of the sixteenth
century beheld them in the height of their maritime
glory, and their vessels in every quarter of the world ;
and at this period, although the British navy showed
some signs of improvement, the East India Company
were hardly able to cope with the Portuguese and
Dutch in India. " And it was feared that the Company
would not, in their commercial operations, be able to
contend successfully with the formidable Dutch and
Portuguese monopolies which had been established in
the East ; and though Portugal and Spain were then
beginning to decline from the exalted position they
had so long held, Holland, in possession of public
liberty and a wise system of commerce, was in the
zenith of her commercial and maritime greatness."^
But if, as some have declared, the natives of India
rejoiced when the overwhelming forces of Holland
shattered the ascendancy of the Portuguese in the
East, at any rate, the people of India, in their freedom
from the yoke of their former masters, found little
cause to congratulate themselves upon the change of
oppressors. The Portuguese found themselves ousted
from the Japan trade in 1638, and surrendered Ceylon
in 1658 ; while at the same time the Dutch colonies at
1 W. S. Lindsay, History of Merchant Shipping, ii, 173, 174.

XCVl INTRODUCTION.
the Cape of Good Hope were most conveniently situ
ated as a place of rendezvous for their eastward-bound
shipping, the extent and character of which contrasted
favourably with that of any other maritime nation at
this time. The reader who would read a lucid expo
sition of the struggles of the English against the Dutch,
who, after overcoming the Portuguese, and maintain
ing by their maritime superiority a long sustained
ascendancy in India, were forced in turn to yield
before our advance, must be referred to Mr. Lindsay's
work, which I have already had occasion to quote on
more than one occasion.
The history of the island fortress of Goa, which the
fearless bravery of Afonso Dalboquerque wrested from
the native powers, led by Adilshaw or Idalkan (or as
the writer of the Commentaries always calls this
prince " 0 Hidalcfio," the Hidalcao), is naturally very
much mixed up with the general history of the Portu
guese possessions in the East (of which it was, and is,
the capital), but it may be well made out by the stu
dent of Indian topographical antiquities, from the very
full and lucid description given by Pedro Barreto de
Resende in the Sloane MS. 197, fohos 244-276,^ a
work which I have frequently consulted during the
work of translating the text of the Commentaries.
The best work solely devoted to the history of Goa
is that written by the Rev. Denis Louis Cottineau
de Kloguen, who was a native of Nantes. His desire
for a knowledge of the world made him quit his
country for England and America. His stay in the
1 Including notices of Bardes and Mormugam.

INTRODUCTION. XCVU
former of these places was not long comparatively
with the latter, where he resided in the city of Balti
more for the period of ten years. From America
Cottineau returned to France ; he soon however left,
and proceeded to the Isle of Bourbon, in which place
he resided for several years, and was admitted a mem
ber of the Philotechnical Society. He afterwards set
out for the Igland of Bombay, where he resided for a
long while, and became one of the members of the
Bombay Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society. In
this place he commenced and completed in French, his
native language, a history of India, from the earliest
times down to the year he wrote ; as also the work
on Goa, from which I shall give some extracts. Shortly
before his demise, he proceeded overland to Madras,
with an intention of going thence to Calcutta, both
which Presidencies he was anxious to see before he
should leave India and return to France for the last
time, which it was in his contemplation to do ; but
worn out with the travels he had performed in coun
tries whose climates are so prejudicial to European
health, he died on the 11th of February, 1830, at
Karrical, a French settlement about a hundred and
seventy-eight miles distant from Madras.
The title to Cottineau de Kloguen's work is as
follows :
"An Historical Sketch qf Goa, the Metropolis of
the Portuguese Settlements in India; with an Account
of the present state of that celebrated City, and of the
surrounding Territories under its immediate Jurisdic
tion, collected from the most authentic sources, and

XCVni INTRODUCTION.
Undertaken and dedicated to His Excellency The
Honorable Major-General Sir John Malcolm, K.C.B.,
and K.L.S., and the Members ofthe Bombay Auxiliary
of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, by the late Eeverend Denis
L. Cottineau de Kloguen, Honorary Member of the same
Society, of the Madras Literary Society, and of the
Philotechnical Society of the Island of Bourbon, Madras ;
Printed for the Proprietor, by William Twigg, at the
Gazette Press, 1831."
The book commences with a section devoted to the
history of Goa, and contains the following interesting
passage with regard to the authorities consulted :
" I have taken care, of course, to consult the original
authors as much as possible, but unfortunately I found
still much wanting in my researches. In the first
place the earthquake which destroyed Lisbon, having
been the cause of the loss of many ancient books and
records, orders were issued to have a great part of
those extant in the colonies, and chiefly in Goa, trans
ported to Europe. Subsequent to this, the dark
policy of the Marquis of Pombal, the Prime Minister
of King Joseph, assisted by the misguided prelate
whom he had raised to the see of Goa, despoiled anew
the library of the Archbishopric of its most valuable
books and manuscripts ; and many of those that remain
have been partially destroyed by those insects so preju
dicial to books and libraries in India.
*****
" § i. Historical Sketch of ihe Town, &g. — We find
the first mention of Goa in Ferishta's history of the
Deccan, under the reign of Mujahid Shaw, the 3rd
Emperor of the Bhamani dynasty, who began his reign

INTRODUCTION. XCIX
in 1374. Goa is said to have been a seaport, apper
taining then, as it did for near a century afterwards,
to the kings or roys of Beejanuger.
" We know by tradition transmitted by the natives
to the first Portuguese settlers, that the Hindoo religion
was then the only one professed in the island. In
1469, according to the same author, MuUek-ul-Tijur
Khaje Jehan, general Vizier and Prime Minister of
Shumse or Mahomet II, the 13th Bhamani Emperor of
the Deccan, took the island of Goa from Humrajee,
regent of Beejanuger, who governed that kingdom
during the minority of the sons of Severoy. The Dec-
canese monarch ordered great rejoicings on this occa
sion, and rendered great honours to his Minister. At
his request he gave the government of the new con
quered place to Kishwer Khan, one of his officers who
had distinguished himself in the conquest. Three
years after, Perkna, Rajah of Belgoan, at the instigation
of the regent of Beejanuger, came to retake Goa ; but
the Sultan of the Deccan marched in person in its
defence, and having attacked Belgoan, forced the Rajah
to retire in. order to defend his capital. In 1479,
according to Antonio de Sousa in his Oriente Con-
quistado, Miguel Oum, at the head of the Mahometans
of Onor, persecuted by the Rajah of that place, who was
tributary to Beejanuger, retired to Goa, under the pro
tection of the Deccanese Sovereign, who professed the
same religion. It is then that Goa was built in its
present place ; for before that period the town stood
near two miles to the southward, about the centre of
the island, and nearer to the southern shore. Of that

C INTRODUCTION.
first town there remain at present but some wretched
hovels around the parochial church of St. Andrew, but
the spot is still known by the appellation of Old Goa,
which modern travellers have, of late, improperly
applied to Goa itself. This new town, built by the
Moors or Mahometans on the N. shore of the island,
opposite to that of Divar, soon became a very flourish
ing place by the excellence of its harbour ; but it was
not very extensive, according to the Dutch traveller
Linsehoten, who tells us that in 1583, when he arrived
in Goa, the walls thereof were still standing, though the
gates had been pulled down to facilitate the communi
cation with the new built part of the city. He informs
us that the walls of Goa,. built by the Mahometans,
were defended by a dry ditch, but he does not describe
the exact extent of the ancient town ; he only says
that in his time it was twice larger. However, from
what he and other travellers say, and from my own
observations on the spot, I suppose that its length
along the shore from E. to W. was from the old Cus
tom House, the palace of the Governor, and the con
vent of St. Cajetan, to the small inlet that still
separates Goa from the suburb of St. Peter or Pannely,
including therefore not only the arsenal, but the Col
lege of St. Bonaventure, which latter must have been
buUt on the ruins of the ancient walls. Towards the S.
the town must have been bounded by the mountain of
the Rosary, and the other rising ground back of the con
vent of Bom- Jesus and the present Bazaar. According
to this supposition, which appears the most plausible,
the city must have been hardly three-quarters of a

INTRODUCTION. Cl
mile in length, and not a quarter in breadth. Soon
after the migration of the Moors, the empire of the
Deccan having undergone a new division of govern
ment by the advice of Mulek-ul-Tijur, Goa feU to the
lot of Fukhir-ul-Moolk ; but in 1486 a certain officer
named Bahadur Gelauce, got the command of the town
by intrigue and violence. In 1495, that usurper
having been slain in a battle against Mahmood, Em
peror of the Deccan, the government was given to one
MuUek-Eia-al-Moolk, whose son and successor, bearing
the same name, acknowledged himself, in 1497, the
vassal of Adilshaw or Idalkhan, as the Portuguese
caU him, but who had since 1489 declared himself
King or Sultan of Bijapoor, though he still nomi
nally acknowledged the supremacy of the Deccanese
monarch. Such was the state of Goa, when Vasco de
Gama landed at Calicut, with the first Portuguese fleet
that had yet appeared in India. When the Admiral
was about to return to Portugal, a Polonian Jew, giving
himself out for an Italian, and Prime Minister to Zabajo,
King of Goa, came to offer him the alliance of his
master ; but he was found out afterwards to be a spy
and an impostor, and was taken to Portugal, where he
embraced the Christian religion, and having had Gama
himself for his godfather, took the name of Gaspar de
Gama. The story of this Jew is certain, and this cir
cumstance, related by the Portuguese, seems to con
tradict the account of Ferishta ; but besides that the
Jew, having been an impostor, might have said what
he pleased, and given any name to the pretended King
of Goa, it is not impossible that the Portuguese

cu INTRODUCTION.
authors have disflgured the name, according to their
custom, and that the' king in question was either
MuUek-Eia-al-Moolk, or Adilshaw himself, whom they
call afterwards actually King of Goa, as they also call him
King of Balagate ; even as they describe the Sultan of
Ahmednugur King of Chowl, and that of Guzerat
King of Cambay. The truth is that Adilshaw, or Idal
khan, particularly desired the residence of Goa ; and
state reasons alone prevented him from transporting
the seat of his Government thither from Bijapore.
This predilection, the affluence of the Mahometans,
and the liberty of commerce, greatly augmented the
prosperity of Goa, and determined the great Alfonso
de Alboquerque to undertake the conquest of that
important place, and make it the metropohs and em
porium of his countrymen in the East."
The second section consists of a " chronological table
of the Viceroys and Governors of Goa and Portuguese
India . . . with the most memorable events in each
administration". The biographical sketches of Joao
de Castro, Constantine de Braganza, Pedro de Mas-
carenhas, under whose period the Portuguese expe
rienced great losses, and Emanuel de Saldanha de
Albuquerque, Count of Ega, in this portion of the
work, are worthy of notice.
The third section contains "Religious estabhsh
ments, proceedings, and documents concerning the
erection of the episcopal, and afterwards the ar
chiepiscopal, see of Goa, the chronology of its
bishops and archbishops, its provincial councils, the

INTRODUCTION. Cill
erection of its religious buildings and religious insti
tutions." This part is also arranged in order of
chronology, and notices the causes of the adoption of
St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, as the patroness of
Goa ; the foundation of the convent of the Franciscan
Observantines, the first spiritual pastors in Goa, and
that of the Dominican church of " Our Lady of the
Rosary". In 1515, Pope Leo X erected the bishopric
of Funchal, in Madeira, to comprehend within its
diocese all Portuguese possessions beyond the seas ;
Pope Clement VII made this an archiepiscopal or
metropolitan see in 1533 ; and in 1534, Paul III
erected the bishopric of Goa, to embrace all the
territory held by Portugal from the Cape of Good
Hope to the extreme East, and to form a diocese sub
ject to the Archbishop of Madeira ; but this latter,
with its suffragans of Angra, Goa, etc., soon became a
simple bishopric, forming part of the Ecclesiastical
Province of the Archbishop of Lisbon. The doings of
the Church, the Jesuits, and other missionaries — especi-
aflySt. Francis Xavier — in Goa, are minutely chronicled
by the author in this part of the work.
The fourth section embraces a " Topographical and
statistical description of the city and island of Goa in
their present state, as likewise of the two Provinces of
Salsette and Bardes, and of the new surrounding
provinces." Of the actual extent and the state of Goa,
Cottineau de Kloguen says : " The present city, im
properly called Old Goa by foreigners, was built
on the northern shore of the island that bears
its name, and which is also called Tissuary, or im-

civ INTRODUCTION.
properly a river, but which is in fact an arm of
the sea, separating the island, on the south, from
the peninsula of Bardes and the islands of Charao
and Divar on the north. The city is directly opposite
this last-mentioned island, and, of course, by more than
one-half nearer to the eastern than to 'the western
extremity of the Island of Goa. Its centre is about
six miles distant from the ocean. Its length from E.
to W. is about Ij miles, not including the suburbs of
Dowji [or Daujim], on the E. and of St. Peter or Pan
nely on the W. It extends in breadth from the shore
or quay up to the top of the hill on which the church
of Luz is situated, about f of a mile, presenting, there
fore, an extent of 3f sq. m  The whole road
between Goa and the new capital Pangi is wholly
bordered with houses. Goa never had any walls on the
E. and S. ; those that begin in the suburb of Little
Dowji, and which extend along the E. shore of the
island were extended by the Viceroy Antonio de
Noronha (1564-1568), their founder, to defend the
weak part of the island, and never were considered
as the ramparts of the city. . . . One coming from
Pangi, and seeing afar off the numerous churches of
Goa with their towers and spires, and the handsome
and neat houses of Pannely, would really think that
he is going to enter a superb metropolis ; but he is
strangely disappointed as soon as he approaches, find
ing himself suddenly transported into the midst of a
desert." After describing the statistics of the five parishes ;
the population, which is given about 3,200 inhabitants ;

INTRODUCTION. CV
the civil edifices ; the Church of St. Catherine, erected
into a Cathedral ih 1534 ; the collegiate and pariah
churches; the inquisition (suppressed in 1812), and
the ecclesiastical courts, the author proceeds to notice
the various convents and religious orders, of Francis
cans, Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians, Carmelites,
Theatins of St. Cajetan of Thienna, and others which
flourish in the island of Goa ; and the section concludes
with an account of Pangi and the neighbouring vil
lages, viz., Ribandar, between Pangi and Pannely ; St.
Agnes, west of Pangi ; the island of Chorao, opposite
to Ribandar ; that of Divar, S.E. of Chorao ; that of
Jua, N.E. of Divar ; and that of Combarjua, to the
S. of Jua ; Salsette, a province or peninsula, S. and S.E.
of Goa; Bardes province, extending from N. to S. along
the coast, to the N.W. of the island of Goa ; and other
seven new provinces of later formation. The fifth
and concluding section is devoted to the " State of the
Population, Government, Religion, Public Instruction,
Revenues, Commerce, and Manners of the Inhabitants
at the present time", with some interesting remarks on
the different castes existing in the colony. It is
unnecessary to allude further to that portion of the
work which does not concern the period of Afonso
Dalboquerque. A very useful addition to the history of Goa, by
way of supplement to that of Cottineau de Kloguen,
is a paper " On the Portuguese Settlements in India",
by T. W. H. Tolbort, Esq., of the Indian Civil Service,
printed in the " Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal" for June 1874. In this the principal points of

CVl INTRODUCTION.
historical interest concerning the three existing settle
ments of Damau, Diu, and Goa, are briefly described.
Of Goa Mr. Tolbort writes :
" The changes since Cottineau's time are not so great as
might have been expected. The buildings in Old Goa are
mostly of laterite, and the damage caused by each year's
monsoon must be considerable ; still, many of the ruins are
well preserved. Three miles up the river, is the church of
the Eeis Magos. Beyond this is New Goa or Panjim, which
was an important suburb even in ancient days, aud which
supplanted Goa as the capital in 1765. One of its churches,
I believe that of N. S. da Conceigao, stands on an elevation
overlooking the town. It appears to have been built in the
beginning ofthe 17th century, as it contains inscriptions as
early as 1654. In the principal sguare is a statue of Albu
querque. This statue, now black with age, was removed
to Panjim from Old Goa in 1810. In Pyrard's time it stood
in front of the church ' da Serra' near that ' da Misericordia' .
The figure is that of a man rather below middle height,
with a long beard, his elbows stretched out and his
hands resting in front  Goa Velha must not be con
founded with the ruins of the Portuguese city known to us
as Old Goa. It is the site of a yet more ancient city occu
pied by Hindus and Muhammadans in times long prior to
Portuguese conquest  The distance from Panjim to
Goa itself is about six miles. The road crosses a bridge
built by the Count of Linhares in 1634, and then traverses
a causeway about two miles long, having the shore of the
estuary, or Rio de Goa, on the left, and an expanse of marshy
meadow land on the right. The causeway was built in
1771. At the end of this causeway is the village or suburb
of Eibandar, then that of Pannely, and then Goa. Goa,
however, provided wind and tide are favourable, is more
easily and pleasantly reached from Panjim by water 
A road leads from the landing place to [the principal] gate
way, all that remains standing of the Viceroy's palace.

INTRODUCTION. CVll
founded in the first instance by Albuquerque himself. Over
the gateway is a statue of Vasco da Gama, erected by his
grandson in 1600.''
Then follow some valuable notes of the various
edifices in the city, with their dates of erection, and
principal monumental inscriptions, and the treatise
concludes with notices of Bagaim and Cochim, " two
places renowned in early Portuguese history, though
now held by the English."
I now propose to direct the attention of the reader
to some concluding remarks concerning the biblio
graphy of Portuguese-Indian literature. These must
necessarily be very brief, because I have already ex
ceeded the limits to which I am here restricted.
The period of Portuguese power in India — upwards
of two centuries and a half if taken from the voyage
of Vasco da Gama to the Dutch conquest of Cochim
— naturally afforded an ample field for the historio
graphers of the Lusitanian nation, and consequently
we find the Bibliotheca Lusitana Historica, Critica, e
Chronologica, of Diogo Barbosa Machado, printed at
Lisbon in two folio volumes in 1741-1747, filled page
after page with the names of authors and titles of
works devoted to this prolific and nationally interest
ing subject.^ But it is not my desire to treat of these,
1 A very useful paper on this subject (which I have followed in
my remarks on these authors), entitled "Authorities for the
History of the Portuguese in India", by T. W. H. Tolbort, Esq.,
B.C.S. wiU be found in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
vol. xiii. Part I, 1873, pp. 193-208. This article contains notices
of a large nuraber of works touching the history of India, and de
serves a place among the existing bibliographies of that country.

cvm INTRODUCTION.
but rather to indicate, in a chronological order, the
principal and most valuable authors, leaving it to the
reader who desires more specific information to con
sult the great work just mentioned. Barros in his
monumental work, the Decades of Asia, gives a suc
cinct account of the Portuguese discoveries before the
memorable voyage of Vasco da Gama. The oldest
writer of the general history is Gaspar Correa. His
work, entitled Lendas da India, was compiled about
the year 1561, but was not printed until 1858-1864,
when the Royal Academy of Lisbon issued it in three
quarto volumes. This work, — from which the Hon.
H. Stanley (now Lord Stanley of Alderley) translated
the Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama, for the Hak
luyt Society — has been considered ver}?- useful, and
second only in veracity and importance to the Decades
of Barros ; and as a full account of the author and
his works will be found in the Voyages mentioned
above, it is unnecessary to repeat it here. Correa went
to India about 1512, and there served under Afonso
Dalboquerque ; and from that period to 1550 it may
be considered that he was moving about as an eye
witness of, and not unfrequently taking part in, the
events he undertakes to describe ; the parts descrip
tive of previous doings of the Portuguese having been
derived in some measure from a manuscript work by
Joao Figueiroa, a Portuguese priest who accompanied
Vasco da Gama. Correa's work, as printed by the
Lisbon Academy, contains the following illustrations
which serve to elucidate the history of Afonso Dalbo
querque, (1) a Portrait of Afonso, as frontispiece to

INTRODUCTION. CIX
torn, ii ; (2) View of Mallaqua, tom. ii, pt. 1, p. 250 ;
(3) Portuguese Fortress of Calequu or Calicut, p. 330 ;
(4) Adem, p. 342 ; (5) CouUam, p. 394 ; (6) Ormuz,
p. 439 ; (7) Judd, p. 494 ; (8) Ceilam, p. 541 ; (9)
Portrait of Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, p. 555 ; (10)
View of Cananor, tom. iii, p. 17 ; (11) Challe, p. 438 ;
(12) Diu, p. 625 ; and (13) Basaim, p. 689.
Place appears to be required here for the manuscript
Historia do Descubrimento e Primeiras Conquistas
da India, which has been described in the Introduction
to vol. i, pp. xiii-xv, and p. 101 of the Commentaries.
The next author for the general history is Joao de
Barros. He is not known to have visited India, but
the opportunities of his official position in the Lisbon
India Office peculiarly fitted him for this work, which
is entitled Dos Feitos que os Portugueses Fizerdo no
Descobrimento e Conquista dos Mares e Terras do
Oriente. Decadas i-iii, iv (incomplete). It was first
printed in folio at Lisbon in 1552, and again in 1628
and 1777 ; and is generaUy admitted to be the best
authority upon the matters to which it relates. D. Bar
bosa Michado records several subsequent editions.^
Of Diogo de Couto, whose history overlaps and con
tinues that of Joao de Barros, Mr. Tolbort writes : " De
Couto^ served in India, and though his portion of the
history is not considered equal to that written by
Barros, it is the best we have for the latter half of the
sixteenth century. The fourth Decade by Barros comes
down to the death of Nuno da Cunha in 1539, but as
this Decade had not appeared when De Couto com-
1 Bill. Lus., ii, 606. ^ Page 194.

ex INTEODUCTION.
menced his continuation, he began twelve years earlier,
bringing the continuation down to 1600. The joint
history of De Barros and De Couto consists of twenty-
four octavo volumes, there being, for the reason above
stated, a duplicate account of the twelve years com
prised in the governments of Lopo Vaz de Sampayo
and Nuno da Cunha." The title of De Couto's con
tinuation of Barros, is Decada Quarta da Asia, dos
feitos que, etc., as given above : printed in folio at
Lisbon in 1602 ; the 5th and 6th Decade, 1612 ; the
7th [8th, 9th, lOthy 1616: and five books ofthe
12th Decade, in Paris, 1645. From Faria y Sousa it
appears that there is a MS. continuation of De Couto's
work by Antonio Boccaro. Diogo de Couto wrote
other works of minor import, and among these orations
to incoming viceroys ; a hfe of the celebrated Captain
D. Paul de Lima ; and a treatise entitled the Soldado
Pratico, in which he exposes the causes of Portuguese
decadence in India, in the shape of a dialogue between
a soldier and a viceroy. A complete digest of this
will be found in the Introduction to Lord Stanley's
Correa, pp. Ixvii, et seq. There is a work in the
British Museum Library, entitled Observagoes sobre as
Principaes Causas da Decadencia dos Portugueses
na Asia, 4to, Lisbon, 1790, which is the same as that
called the Soldado Pratico in the previous sen
tence. Fernfio Lopez de Castanheda, the next general his
torian in this series, visited India in 1528, and is said
1 These three decades in MS., in the British Museum copy.

INTRODUCTION. CXl
to have travelled over all the districts of that empire
under Portuguese domination, with the desire of ob
taining correct information for his literary labours.
Castanheda's work is entitled Historia do Descobri
mento & Conquista da India pelos Portugueses. It
consists of eight books, and was published in folio at
Coimbra, 1551-1561 ; the narrative running down to
the first siege of Diu in 1538, and so covering nearly
the same space of time as the previous work of Joao
de Barros. Mr. Tolbort states that Castanheda in
tended to publish ten books, but the last two seem to
have been suppressed because they reflected upon
some powerful people of the Portuguese Court. But
from a fist furnished to him by Senhor da Cunha
Rivara, secretary to the Portuguese Government at
Goa, it appears that this work is brought down to the
year before the commencement of publication. The
first book of Castanheda appears to have been trans
lated into French by Nicholas de Grouchy, and pub
lished in Svo. Anvers, 1554 ; and the same book was
again printed in quarto at London in 1582, in form
of an English translation — the first English translation
of any work of this series of authors — by a " gentle
man" named Nicholas Lichefeld under the title of
The First BooTce ofthe Historie of the Discouerie and
Conquest of the East Indias, enterprised by the Por-
tingales, in their daungerous Nauigations, in the time
of the King Dom John ihe second of that name. It is
to be desired that the time may not be far distant
when English translations of all these original 'histories
shall have been prepared and printed.

CXU INTRODUCTION.
The next name on this list of Indian historians' is
that of a foreign Jesuit, Johannes Petrus Maffei,
whose work (in Latin) is entitled Historice Indices,
cum Ignatii Loyolce vita. This was printed in folio at
Cologne in 1589, and again in 1593. It is believed
to be based on the work of Ba.rros, and is carried
down to 1557, being divided into sixteen books, with
an appendix of four books of Epistolce Indicce, or
selected letters from India. Maffei was, also, the
author of the Rerum a Societate Jesu in Oriente ges-
tarum Volumen, 8vo. Colon. 1574.
The Benedictine Fr. Antonio de San Roman fol
lowed apparently in the footsteps of Maffei. His work
is thus entitled Historia General de la India Oriental.
It was printed in form of a folio at Valladolid in ] 603.
Another work,^ also in the Spanish language, is that
of Luys Coello de Barbuda, with the title of Emprezas
Militares de Lusitanos, in quarto, printed at Lisbon
in 1624.
The Livro^ do Estado da India Oriental by Captain
Pedro Barreto de Resende, in 1646, from which much
assistance has been acquired during the progress of
this translation, has been fully described in the Intro
duction to vol. i, pp. vii-xiii.
The next author is Faria y Sousa, or Manoel
Severim de Faria ; the work being entitled Asia Por-
' Titles of the works of Maffei, and their various editions and
translations form No. 11, 116m, of M. Lgon Pages' Bibliographie
Japonaise, which will be noticed further on.
2 Omitted by Mr. Tolbort.
' Also omitted by the same writer.

INTRODUCTION. CXIU
tuguesa, and beginning at the early voyages is carried
down to 1640. It was printed in three volumes of
folio size at Lisbon in 1666-1675, and has been also
published in Spanish. Mr. Tolbort describes an Eng
lish translation from the Spanish text in 1695. The
description of China by Faria y Sousa is founded on
the Memoirs of Semedo, and is valuable for the history
of the China mission. M. Severim de Faria was the
author of many other historical works ; his Africa
Portuguesa was translated into English by Captain
John Stevens, three volumes, 8vo, London, 1695.
The last of the general historians is the Reverend
Father Joseph Lafitau, a Jesuit like his literary pre
decessor Maffei. His Portuguese researches are en
titled Histoire des Decouvertes et Conquestes des Por-
tugais dans le Nouveau Monde. It was published
at Paris in two volumes in 1 733, and is a very interest
ing and well written work, but does not pretend to
give any great amount of detail.'
After the consideration of these comprehensive
writers, it is very necessary to put on record the titles
of some bibliographical and other works which treat
of Indian matters incidentally, or of special subjects
and particular events.
I am not aware of the existence of any work par
taking solely of the nature of a Bibliotheca Indica,
but the best Bibliographies for the prolific subject of
European rule in India are the following : D. Barbosa
1 In the Introduction to Vol. i, I have considered Grenville's
statement that the first volume of Lafiitau is translated from the
Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque.

CXlV INTRODUCTION.
Machado's Bibliotheca, to which already references
have often been made. The classified indices in this
book greatly augment its literary value for reference
and research. A very large portion of it, however,
consists of notices of historical works, both manuscript
and printed, which are unfortunately not available
beyond the limits of the native libraries of Portu
gal. Raphael Savonarola's work entitled Universus Ter-
rarum Orbis scriptorum Calamo delineatus, hoc est,
Auctorum fere omnium qui de Eur opce, AsicB, ....
regnis, etc. . . . scripserunt .... uberrimus elen-
chus, etc., and published with the name of the author
arranged as an anagram, Alphonsi Lasor a Varea,
Patavii, 1713, two vols., folio, contains notices of
the titles of a large number of early books treating
upon the prolific subject of India — travels, voyages,
and -Jiistories. The titles are given under the names
of the places to which they refer. The work is
adorned with several copper -plate engravings of
cities and towns, from an old collection of maps,
plans, and views originally published about the year
1600. Among these may be mentioned Calechut,
vol. i, p. 219 ; Canonor, vol. i, p. 226 ; Goa, vol. i,
p. 452 ; and Ormus, vol. i, p. 94, which illustrate the
period of the Commentaries.
One of the most comprehensive Bibliographical
works that belong to this class is the Bibliotheque
Universelle des Voyages, ou Notice complete et rai-
sonnee de tous les Voyages anciens et modernes dans
les differentes parties du monde, etc. Par G. Boucher

INTRODUCTION. CXV
de la Richarderie, in six vols. Svo, Paris, 1808. The
portions which relate to India are contained in the
le. Partie. § ii. Navigations et Voyages chez les
anciens (vol i, p. 15).
§ iv, 1. Voyages faits en Orient dans le
moyen 4ge (vol. i, p. 32).
§ iv. Collections de Voyages (z6. p. 55).
§ vi. Voyages autour du monde (ib. p. 1 07).
§ viii, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, Voyages dans dif
ferentes parties du monde {ib. p. 179,
etc.)
IVe Partie. § vi, Description des Indes Orientales.
Voyages faits dans ce pays (vol. v,
p. 1, etc.)
The Bibliotheque Asiatique et Africaine, ou cata
logue des ouvrages relatifs a I'Asie et d, VAfrique qui
ontparu depuis la DScouverte de I' imprimerie jusqu' en
1700, by H. Ternaux-Compans, 8vo, Paris, 1841, con
sists of many hundred references and titles of books,
arranged in chronological order, and exhibits an un
tiring labour on the part of the compiler. Its useful
ness would perhaps have been greater if the Biblio
graphy of the two great continents of Asia and Africa
had been kept separate, or printed in different type,
to catch the eye of the reader.
I have not been able to inspect a copy of the
Bibliotheque Giographique, by M. Le Breton, in
seventy-two volumes, ISmo, pubhshed in Paris, 1802-
1807 ; from the title it would appear to be useful for
matters relating to Indian Bibliography.

CXVl INTRODUCTION.
Mention must also be made of the Bibliographie
Japonaise, ou Catalogue des Ouvrages Relatifs au
Japon, qui ont 6t6 publies depuis leXVe Sidclejusqu'd
nos jours ; r^dig^ par M. L^on Pages, ancien Attach^
de Legation, large quarto, Paris, 1859. Although this
most useful book is specially devoted to Japanese
history, it contains a vast number of entries relating to
Portuguese India ; Japan, like that continent, being
connected with Portugal by the exertions of the
Jesuits and other propagandist missionaries, by the
fame and labours of St. Francisco Xavier, and by the
zeal of travellers and traders. Hence the books which
treat of the one, in many cases do not fail to throw
some light upon the other empire. The works included
in the chronological series commence with Marco Polo'
in 1496, and are arranged in order of chronology, with
an appendix of " Documents Manuscrits", and a " Table
Analytique" of names and subjects.
In the text, prefixed to the Royal Illustrated Atlas
of Modern Geography, will be found comprehensive
classified lists of (i) Collections and Histories of Voy
ages and Travels, p. 5 ; (xxiii) Voyages and Travels in
Asia, p. 65 ; and (xxiv) Voyages and Travels, etc., in
1 I am happily enabled to add the description of one MS. of
Marco Polo, which has been, by some accident omitted in both
editions by Col. Yule : — 1871, vol. ii, p. 449, and 1874, vol. ii, p.
517. This is a Latin copy of quarto size, on vellum, of the four
teenth century, ending abruptly towards the end of Book iii, chap.
xvii, at the words—" ne possint ab homine vel a bestia". It has
been in the British Museum since April 1853, when it was pur
chased at Baron Walckenaer's sale at Paris, lot 3385 ; aud is now
numbered. Additional MS. 19513, folios 85 to 132.

INTRODUCTION. CXVU
India, pp. 68-78, by Dr. N. Shaw, Secretary to the
Royal Geographical Society. The entries relating
to India are especially numerous, and are useful be
cause they are brought down to a more modern
period than that which limits other catalogues. At
the same time it is to be remarked that Dr. Shaw has
failed to give the correct title to the first edition
of the Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque (p. 68,
coL 1).
The entries in the new General Catalogue of Printed
Books in the British Museum ; the Classed Catalogue
of Manuscripts in the British Museum ;' the Cata
logue of the Library of the East India House ; the
Classified Catalogue of Books of the Royal Geographi
cal Society, p. 229, published in 1871 ; and many
other catalogues of similar institutions, must be care
fully examined by the student who desires to perfect
1 The principal classes are : —
India, History of. Vol. iii, p. 455.
Portuguese, ibid., p. 457.
Topography of, Vol. Iviii, p. 385.
Travels in, ibid., p. 117.
Transactions with Great Britain, Vol. vii, pp. 1 9 7, 2 7 7.
Army of. Vol. I, p. 557.
Religious Houses in the Indies, Vol. Ixxix, p. 217.
Voyages to. Vol. Iviii, p. 175.
Church History of, VoL v, p. 135.
There is a very fine collection of forty volumes of Portuguese
papers in the British Maseum, entitled Collec^am authentica de
todas as Leys, Regimentos, Alvaros, e mais Ordens que se expediram
para a India desde o estabelecimento destas conquistas, etc., 1518-
1758 (Add. MS., 20861-20900). They are followed by fourteen
other volumes of papers and miscellaneous documents of great- im-
portauce in the History of Portuguese India.

cxviii INTRODUCTION.
his appreciation of the enormous quantity of literary
materials existing of which l^e prolific subject of
India has been the inspiration and the theme.
I am indebted to Mr. C. H. Coote, of the Map
Department of the British Museum, for the substance
of the following notes respecting the MS. Portolano from
which the map of India, reproduced to face page 1, is
redrawn. Among the notable acquisitions of the Map De
partment of the British Museum, recorded in vol. 52
of the Parhamentary Papers for 1873, is a Portuguese
MS. Portolano of the sixteenth century, the execution
of which is of unusual beauty. This MS. is the work
of Fernao Vaz Dourado, and the date of 1573 has
been assigned to its production. This date, from in
ternal evidence, appears to be correct, and if so, the
MS. is a copy of one prepared three years earlier by
the same hand. Barbosa Machado' records that the
original manuscript was made in Goa in 1571, and that
in his time (1747) it was preserved in the monastery
of the Carthusians at Evora. It would appear that
at some period between 1747 and 1812 the work was
removed to the Academia Real da Marinha de Lisboa.
The learned Antonio Ribeiro dos Santos, although
the existence and place of deposit of the original MS.
were apparently known to him, arrived at the erroneous
conclusion — probably through a misreading of Barbosa
Machado — that it was afterwards printed.^ It is
* Bibl. Lusitana, ii, 64.
2 "0 quai se Estampou em Goa em 1571, foi." Mem. da
Litter at. Portug., viii, Pt. i, p. 187.

INTRODUCTION. CXlX
hardly necessary to mention that this is an error. The
original MS., which is generally known in Portugal
under the name of the Carte du Cartuxa, is minutely
described in the Dictionnaire Historico-Artistique du
Portugal, par le Comte A. Raczynski (p. 73), as fol
lows : " Le frontispiece de cet atlas est divis^ perpen-
diculairement en deux parties 6gales. Un Ecce Homo
occupe le cote droit ; k gauche sont les armes des
Costa, avec ce titre en portugais : Mappamundo que
fez Fernao Vas Dourado fronteiro nestas partes que
trata de todos os reinos, terras, ilhas, que ha na redon-
deza da terra, com suas derrotas e alturas per esquadria.
Em Goa, 1571. Autour de ce frontispiece on lit en
core en latin : Universalis et Integra totius orbis Hydro-
graphia ad verissimam Lusitanorum traditionem de-
scriptio, Ferdinandus (sic) Vaz Dourado cosmografo
auctore, in civitate Goa, anno 1571."
A later writer' informs us that the beautiful frontis
piece above mentioned has disappeared from the
National Archives of Lisbon, and in this respect the
original compares unfavourably with the copy in the
British Museum, of which the title is somewhat dif
ferent : " Universalis et Integra totius orbis Hidro-
graphia ad verissimam Luzitanorum traditionem de.
scripcio. Ferdinado l^. Este livro fes Fernao Vaz
Dourado." A comparison of the copy in the British
Museum with the collation of the original afforded us
by Da Silva enables us to realise their differences with
out difficulty. In the place of the lost frontispiece of
^ Da Silva, Diccionario Bibliographio Portuguez, Supp., tom.
ix, p. 221.

CXX INTRODUCTION.
the original MS., containing the title in Portuguese on
the one side and the Ecce Homo on the other, the
Museum copy exhibits on the verso of the first folio,
the Royal arms of Portugal, and on the recto of the
following leaf, a representation of the Martyrdom of St.
Sebastian, beautifully illuminated in charming colours
by a Portuguese artist, and perhaps one of the finest
specimens of the miniature painter's art to be found
in any Portuguese manuscript. This picture was in
all probability intended as a delicate act of homage to
the reigning monarch Dom Sebastiao. The origi
nal appears to have consisted, at a former period,
of twenty sheets bound in folio, including title-page,
sixteen charts, one table of cosmographical rules, and
two of nautical calendars ; — whereas the Museum copy
contains twenty-one sheets, viz., the title, seventeen
charts, the table of rules, and two sheets of nautical
calendars, apparently calculated for four years, ending in
leap-year 1576. The rules in the Museum copy con
tain a table of feasts which coincide exactly with those
for 1573, and this, with the allusion to the King Dom
Sebastiao in the frontispiece, points conclusively to the
correctness of the date assigned to it. Barbosa
Machado alludes to a copy of the work of Vaz
Dourado in the library of Jose de Faria, the learned
secretary to Dom Pedro II, circ. 1690, but of this
copy no trace is known, unless perchance that in the
British Museum be the very one.
With regard to the author himself little is known.
According to the author, Antonio Ribeiro dos San
tos, Fernando Vaz Dourado was born probably in

INTRODUCTION. CXXl
the first quarter of the sixteenth century, at Goa ;
he is described in his own work as "fronteiro nestas
partes" ; and by Barbosa Machado as " igualmento
perito no exercicio das armas, como versado na Geo-
grafia", a fact which no one will dispute. In addition
to these meagre notices of the first cosmographer of
the Indies, there is a notice in the Archivo^ Portuguez
Oriental relating to FernSo Vaz of Goa in 1584, and if
this refers to the above, which is very doubtful, it would
bring the life of the author well down towards the
close of the sixteenth century.
The portrait of Afonso Dalboquerque, which is
placed as a frontispiece to this book, forms the frontis
piece of vol. i of the Svo. edition of the Commentaries
of 1774. It has been reproduced by the autotype pro
cess with permission of the trustees of the British
Museum from the copy preserved in the library.
The portrait of Dom Francisco Dalmeida and the
plan of Goa are derived from the same valuable MS.
of Pedro Barreto de Resende from which I obtained
that of Afonso Dalboquerque, given as frontispiece in
the first volume of my translation, and the map of
Arabia by P. Berthelot^ at page 80 ; and my thanks
1 Fascic. V, p. 1075.
2 Pierre Berthelot, a barefooted Carmelite monk, whose name
in religion was Denis de la Nativity, was born at Honfleur in 1600.
After having followed the career of a pirate, he was received with
distinction at Goa, and was nominated in 1629 first pilot to a
Portuguese fleet sent to defend Malacca (Sumatra) against the
King of Aohim, who was besieging the town. His bravery won for
him the post of Cosmographer Koyal of the Indies, a title which
he justified in revealing in his divers voyages the shores of the

CXXU INTRODUCTION.
are due to the trustees of the British Museum for
permission to reproduce these also by photography.
There is an interesting map of Goa, in the possession
of T. W. H. Tolbort, Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service,
to whom I am indebted for the kindness shown by
offering the use of it for this work, which bears the
following title :
" Mappa do Territorio Portuguez de Goa, mostrando
tambem os principaes lugares de Sattari. Tudo ex-
aminado e visto debaixo da immediata Superinten-
dencia do Tenente Jas. Garling de Madrasta pelos
Annos de 1814. Corrigido e separado em Provincias
por C. S. R. Nunes."
The lower space of the map is filled with statistical
information' of great value, but, as it appertains to a
period far more recent than that of Afonso Dalbo
querque, I should be hardly justified in inserting these
notices in this place. The scale to which the map is
drawn is two miles to an inch — duas Milhas porpole-
gada.
The modern map of Goa and the Portuguese de-
country that he visited. Berthelot, with the Portuguese ambas
sador, was massacred at Achim by the inhabitants on the 27th of
November, 1638. — Frere, Manuel de Bibliographie Normande, vol.
i, p. 336. Paris, 1850-60. Svo.
1 See also, Brit. Mus. Add. MS., 14382, fif. 112, 113. Some
useful Notices of the Portuguese Territories of Goa are to be found
in the British Museum Add. MS., 14384, S. 19-40, written early
in the present century ; and there are also two large volumes
respectively entitled a Memoir Descriptive and Illustrative of the
Map of the Portuguese Territories Dependent on Goa, surveyed in
1811-1812, by Lieut. J. Garling, MS. 14385; and a Collection of
Statistical Tables of the Portur/uese Territories in India, 1776-
1833, MS. 14386.

INTRODUCTION. CXXIU
pendencies may be best studied from the survey (four
miles to an inch) made by Lieutenant-Colonels Neil
Campbell and G. Boyd and their staff, and published
by John Walker, geographer to the Hon. East India
Company, May 31st, 1852.

CHRONOLOGY OF PART II.

PAGE A-D.
1. Afonso Dalboquerque arrives at Cananor
At the beginning of December, 1508
1. Requests to be received as Governor of India
A few days afterwards
4. Beaches Cochim  14 Dec, 1508
11. Meeting of Afonso Dalboquerque and Jorge
Barreto  24 Dec, 1508
16. D. Francisco Dalmeida, Viceroy of India, having
routed the Eumes, visits Cananor and Cochim 8 March, 1509
123. D. Afonso da Noronha sails away from Qacotora
to India ....... April, 1509
34. The Viceroy summons a Council to deliberate
respecting the appointment of Afonso Dal
boquerque to be Govemor . Monday, 15 May, 1509
49. Death of Joao da Nova, at Cochim . . July, 1509
46. D. Fernando Coutinho, Marshal of Portugal,
[having set out from Portugal on the 12th
March, 1509, see page 66 note'] arrives at
Cananor, and carries Afonso Dalboquerque
with him to Cochim . . . .29 Oct., 1509
47. The Marshal pays a visit to the Viceroy with
respect to the affairs of Afonso Dalboquerque Saturday, 4 Nov., 1509
48. The Viceroy surrenders the government of In
dia to Afonso Dalboquerque, and embarks
Sunday, 5 Nov., 1509

CHRONOLOGY OF PART II. CXXV
48. The Viceroy sails for Cananor in the ship
Garga  10 November, 1509
52. Determination of Afonso Dalboquerque and the
Marshal to destroy Calicut Beginning of Dec, 1509
63. They set out from Cochim ... 31 Dec, 1509
63. And arrive at Calicut . .... 3 Jan., 1510
64-71. The attack made, the Marshal killed and
Afonso Dalboquerque wounded . . 4 Jan., 1510
„ After burning the city of Calicut the Portu
guese withdraw to Cochim ... 5 Jan., 1510
80. Afonso Dalboquerque sets out from Cochim
for the Red Sea with twenty -three ships 10 Feb., 1510
84. Alters his course, and bears down upon the
Castle of Cintficora . . . . 2§ Feb., 1510
88. A Council deliberates upon the proposed enter
prise to attack Goa . . . . [27 Feb., 1510]
88. D. Antonio de Noronha, nephew of Afonso
Dalboquerque, sounds the bar of Goa . 28 Feb., 1510
48. The Viceroy murdered at the watering-place
of Saldanha  [1 March, 1510]
89. Capture of the fortress of Pangij . [1 March, 1510]
196. Note. [Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos sets out
from Portugal with a fleet for Malaca 12 March, 1510]
119. Letter of Afonso Dalboquerque to the King of
Ormuz announcing the capture of Goa 20 March, 1510
133. Francisco Serrao dispatched from Goa to
Cochim to carry news of the fall of the
city, and to take back supplies . Beginning of April
137. Arrival of the Hidalcao's advanced guard at
Banda and Condal, reported . . 23 April, 1510
155. The Hidalcao enters Goa through the pass of
Agacij .  17 May, 1510

CXXVl CHRONOLOGY OF PART II.
164. Afonso Dalboquerque withdraws his forces from
Goa, and anchors in the river . . .20 May, 1510
1 76. The Portuguese renew their attack on Pangij,
and succeed  14 June, 1510
180. Death of Don Antonio de Noronha, nephew
of Afonso Dalboquerque.
188. Execution of Ruy Diaz.
192. Afonso Dalboquerque orders Joao de Lima to
prepare to sail for supplies . . .15 July, 1510
193. Afonso Dalboquerque attempts to sail out over
the bar of Goa . . . About 21 July, 1510
199. Afonso Dalboquerque sails away to Anjadiva 16 Aug., 1510
199. Arrival of Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos with
a fleet of five ships from Portugal . . 16 Aug., 1510
200. The combined fleets anchor ofl' Anjadiva . 17 Aug., 1510
201. Anchor off Onor  19 Aug., 1510
202. And arrive at Cananor . . . .26 Aug., 1510
124. Duarte de Lemos and Francisco Pantoja arrive
at Cananor from (Jacotora . . .31 Aug., 1510
224. Arrival of Lourengo Moreno from Portugal at
Cananor  8 Sept., 1510
215. Letter from Afonso Dalboquerque to the Chief
Alguazil of Cambaya . . . . 16 Sept., 1510
233. Arrival of Gongalo de Sequeira at Cananor . 16 Sept,, 1510
237. Afonso Dalboquerque sets out with all his forces
to Cochim  22 Sept, 1510
237. Reaches Cochim, and visits the King . . 26 Sept., 1510

COMMENTARIES

OF THE GREAT

AFONSO
DALBOQUERQUE, WHO WAS
CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE EAST INDIES
IN THE TIME OF THE VERY POWERFUL
KING D. MANUEL,
THE FIRST OF THIS NAME.

PART II.

LISBON:
IN THE ROYAL PRINTING OFFICE,
ANNO MDCCI.XXIV ;
WM Licence of the Royal Board of Censors, and Royal Privilege.

TITLES

CHAPTERS CONTAINED IN THIS SECOND PART.

WHEEEIN AEE CONTAINED THE DEALINGS OF THE GEEAT AFONSO
DALBOQUEEQ0E WITH THE VICEEOY : AND WHAT HB DID
AFTEE BEING INVESTED WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA, UNTIL THE FIRST TAKING OF GOA.

CHAPTER I.
How he arrived at Cananor at the beginning of December, in the
year fifteen hundred and eight : and required the Viceroy to
deliver up to him the government of India, as the king D.
Manuel ordered in his instructions, and what took place
thereupon - - 1
CHAPTER II. .
How Gaspar Pereira carried the appointments, which the Viceroy
gave him, to the great Afonso Dalboquerque, and of the
reply he received - 6
CHAPTER III.
Of certain things which passed at Cochim, between the great
Afonso Dalboquerque and Jorge Barreto: and of the letter
which Lourenco de Brito, Captain of Cananor, wrote to him,
and of the reply which was sent to him 11
CHAPTER IV.
How the Viceroy, D. Francisco Dalmeida, after routing the Rumes,
set out from Diu, aud arrived at Cananor with Lourenco de
Brito, and so on to Cochim : and of what took place with
the great Afonso Dalboquerque on his arrival IC

CXXX TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS

CHAPTER V.
How the Viceroy behaved towards Gaspar Pereira and Euy de
Araujo and the other officers of the Factory, with regard to
the interview which he had held with the great Afonso Dal
boquerque 18
CHAPTER Vl.
Of what passed between the Viceroy and Gaspar Pereira, and
of the message sent by the Viceroy through him to the
great Afonso Dalboquerque ; and how he gave an account
to the officers of the Factory at Cochim, and to Jorge de
Melo and the rest of the captains, of what had happened with
regard to the pepper ; and of the doings of Anchecala with
them, in the Factory 22
CHAPTER Vll.
How Francisco de Tavora, owing to some words he had with
Jorge de Melo Pereira concerning the great Afonso Dalbo
querque, sent him a challenge, and what took place there
after ; and of the arrival of Diogo Lopez de Sequeira in India 28
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the requisition which Jorge Barreto and Joao da Nova, in
accordance with the Opinion of some of the captains, made
to the Viceroy D. Francisco Dalmeida, that he should not
deliver the government of India to Afonso Dalboquerque, and
of the counsel they all took upon this matter 32
CHAPTER IX.
Of the events which took place after the council, and how the
Viceroy gave orders for the apprehension of Joao de Christus,
Friar of the Order of St. Eloy, and what happened thereupon 37
CHAPTER X.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, upon' hearing of the appre
hension of Joao de Christus, went to speak with the Viceroy
in his behalf : and how the Viceroy gave orders to take Afonso
Dalboquerque and carry him to Cananor, and raze to the
ground the houses wherein he lived 4]
CHAPTER XI.
How.D. Fernando Coutinho, Marshal of Portugal, arrived at
Cananor, and carried with him the great Afonso Dalboquer
que, to govern India 45

CONTAINED IN THE SECOND PART. CXXXl

CHAPTER XII.

How the Marshal told the great Afonso Dalboquerque that the
King D. Manuel gave orders for the destruction of the City
of Calicut, and of what passed in this matter - 51

CHAPTER XIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal gave the
King of Cochim an account of their intended expedition to
CaMcut ; and of the council they held with the Captains
thereupon - - - 54
CHAPTER XIV.
How, when the great Afonso Dalboquerque was ready to set oilt,
Vasco da Silveira arrived from Cocotora with a message
from Duarte de Lemos, begging him to send ships and men ;
and what took place thereupon 60
CHAPTER XV.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal set out for
Calicut with their fleet: and of the council which they held
respecting their disembarkation, and further proceedings 63
CHAPTER XVI.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal entered the
City of Calicut, and proceeded to the Camorim's houses, and
our men were routed, and the Marshal killed, and further
proceedings - 67
CHAPTER XVII.
Of the behaviour of the Oamorim, when he learned that the Por
tuguese had entered the City of Calicut : and how the great
Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched Fr. Luis to Narsinga, to
relate to the King what had taken place in Calicut, and
further proceedings - 71
CHAPTER XVIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque prepared his fleet with the
intention of entering the Straits of the Ked Sea : and of the
council he held upon an expedition to Goa 79
CHAPTER XI.'C.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail from the harbour of
Mergeu, and took up his station in front of the Castle of
Cintacora ; and what passed ^vith Timoja, and how sailing,
thence he went and anchored on the bar of Goa 84

CXXxii TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS
CHAPTER XX.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered D. Antonio de
Noronha and other captains to sound the river, and how they
took the Castle of Pangij, which stands at the entrance of the
bar, and further proceedings 88
CHAPTER XXI.
How the Governors of the City of Goa delivered the keys of it to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque, and of the spoils he found
therein, aud further proceedings 97
CHAPTER XXII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque began to build the fortress
of Goa : and what passed with the Captains and Timoja 101
CHAPTER XXIll.
How the Ambassadors of the Xeque Ismael, and of the King of
Ormuz, who were in Goa, sent word to the great Afonso
Dalboquerque, desiring an audience : and what took place
with them, aud how he sent Kuy Gomes to the Xeque
Ismael 10(i
CHAPTER XXIV.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered Francisco Pantoja to
provide the fortress of CacotorS, with supplies, and what
passed herein with Duarte de Lemos respecting a ship which
he captured on the way l'^^
CHAPTER XXV.
Of the agreement which the great Afonso Dalboquerque entered
into with Timoja and the principal men of the country, con
cerning the dues they would be required to pay each year, and
how at their request he ordered coin to be struck 124
CHAPTER XXVI.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque made ready to winter in Goa,
and sent Diogo Fernandes de Beja to the fortress of
CintS,oora 132
CHAPTER XXVII.
How Mandaloy, Lord of Condal, wrote to the great Afonso Dal
boquerque the news he had of the coming of the Hidalcao, and
what was done respecting this information 13.5

CONTAINED TN THE SECOND PART. CXXxiii
CHAPTER XXVIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, immediately upon hearing
this news, provided the strongholds of the island with men
and captains, and ordered the trial of the Xabandar, on
account of the evil report he had of him, and further doings - 139
CHAPTER XXIX.
How the Hidalcao sent Joao Machado, and a Venetian, who were
with him, having turned Moors, with a message to the great
Afonso Dalboquerque, desiring him to quit Goa, and of the
reply he gave them I43
CHAPTER XXX.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque gave an account to Timoja
of the message which Joao Machado had brought from the
Hidalcao to him, and of further proceedings thereupon 147
CHAPTER XXXI.
Of the message which Garcia de Sousa sent from Benastarim to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque ; and how Afonso made an
inspection of the passes of the island, and further doings 1,51
CHAPTER XXXII.
How the Hidalcao entered the island of Goa through the pass of
Agacij, and proceeded to attack the city ; and the great
Afonso Dalboquerque retired to the castle with all his men,
and what took place in continuation 164
CHAPTER XXXIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque determined to fortify him
self in the fortress and maintain it ; and of what passed with
the captains thereupon ; and of the message which the
Hidalcao sent through Joao Machado, and what happened
afterwards 169
CHAPTER XXXIV.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque quitted the fortress and pro
ceeded to embark ; and how the Hidalcao entered it, and
what he performed ', " 163
CHAPTER XXXV.
Of the council which the great Afonso Dalboquerque held whether
he should sail away over the har, and what happened there
upon ; and how he sent away Fernao Perez Dandrade, who
was cast away - 168

CXXxiv TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS

CHAPTER XXXVI.

How the Captain who was .stationed in Pangij began to harass our
ships with artillery; and how the great Afonso Dalboquerque
acted with our men thereat ; and how he would not accept
the present which the Hidalcao sent to him - 171

CHAPTER XXXVII.
The council held by the great Afonso Dalboquerque respecting
the attack upon the fortress of Pangij ; and how he entered
it, and of the slaughter he made of the Moors therein - 173
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent Diogo Fernandez de
Beja and the other captains in the galleys to reconnoitre the
city and get true information respecting the ileet which was
being made ; and how D. Antonio, in succouring them, was
killed - 178
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The message which the HidalcSo sent to the great Afonso Dalbo
querque desiring that he would make peace with him, and
further proceedings 181
CHAPTER XI..
How the Hidalcao sent one of his principal captains back again
to speak with the great Afonso Dalboquerque respecting
peace ; and of the reply given to him, and what passed with
him concerning Timoja 184
CHAPTER XLI.
How matters stood between the great Afonso Dalboquerque, at
anchor in the river at Goa, and certain Captains, respecting
the hanging of Ruy Diaz ; aud how he determined to send
D. Joao de Lima with the sick men to Cochim 187
CHAPTER XLIl.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail with the intention of
saihng away over the bar with the whole of the fleet : aud the
reason why he did not do so, and what further passed 193
CHAPTER XLIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sailed out of the river ot Goa
with all the fleet : and how he came up en route with Diogo
Mendez, on the voyage from Portugal, and what passed be

tween them

199

CONTAINED IN THE SECOND PART. CXXXV

CHAPTER XLIV.
How Afonso Dalboquerque reached Cananor, and had an audience
of the King ; and of the arrival of Duarte de Lemos and
Francisco Pantoja : and what dealings Afonso Dalboquerque
had with him 204
CHAPTER XLV.
How an ambassador from the King of Cambaya arrived at Cana
nor to treat for peace with the great Afonso Dalboquerque ;
and the reply he received ; and what passed upon this with
Duarte de Lemos 210
CHAPTER XLVI.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent Simao Martinz, and
(Jarcia de Sousa, to watch for the ships which sailed from
Meca, that they might obtain certain intelligence of the
coming of the Rumes ; and of the request made to him by
Diogo Mendez that he might be allowed to prosecute his
voyage to Malaca - 217
CHAPTER XLVII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque deliberated with the cap
tains, whether he should permit Diogo Mendez to go to
Malaca or not ; and what conclusions were arrived at, and
what happened in regard to Diogo Mendez 220
CHAPTER XLVIII.
How Lourenco Moreno, with two other vessels of the company of
Goncalo de Siqueira, reached Cananor : and how the great
Afonso Dalboquerque ordered him to conclude peace with the
Rulers of Baticala; and of the letter which Afonso Dalbo
querque wrote to Timoja through him 224
CHAPTER XLIX.
How Simao Martinz captured a ship which came from Meca,
richly laden, and brought her to Cananor ; and of the news
which two Jews, who were taken in her, related to the great
Afonso Dalboquerque 228
CHAPTER L.
How Gonqalo de Sequeira reached Cananor ; of the council held
by the great Afonso Dalboquerque with the captains, respect
ing the return to Goa ; and of the news he had concerning
the death of the King of Cochim, and what he did thereupon 233

CXXXIV TITLES OF CHAPTERS.

CHAPTER LI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set out for Cochim, aud
arranged the differences between the King and his cousin :
and what passed with the captains while stationed at Cochim 237

PART II.

WHEEEIN ARE CONTAINED THE DEALINGS OF THE GEEAT AFONSO
DALBOQUERQUE WITH THE VICEROY : AND WHAT HE DID
AFTER BEING INVESTED WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA, UNTIL THE FIRST TAKING OF GOA.

CHAPTER L

How he arrived at Cananor at the beginning of December, in the year
fifteen hundred and eight : and required the Viceroy to deliver up
to him the government of India, as the king D. Manuel ordered in
his instructions, and what took place thereupon.
The great Afonso Dalboquerque, on his arrival at Cananor,
as I have mentioned, found the Viceroy there making his
fleet ready to go and seek the Rumes, who were at Diu ;
and as the Viceroy had already learned by Fernao Soares
and Ruy da Cunha, captains in the fleet of Jorge de Aguiar
(who had arrived but a few days before), that the King D.
Manuel had ordered him to return that year to Portugal,
leaving Afonso Dalboquerque as Grovernor of India, he was
not much pleased with his arrival, nor was the other, either,
pleased at seeing how good a treatment the captains who
had deserted him at Ormuz had experienced at the hands of
the Viceroy ; and thenceforward great dissensions began to
grow up between them.
After the lapse of some days, Afonso Dalboquerque went
to see the Viceroy, and told him, in the presence of Fernao
Soarez and Ruy da Cunha, that since the King D. Manuel
had ordered him to proceed to Portugal, and all the letters

Z COMMENTARIES OF
and official documents came directed to himself, as Governor
of India, he desired that he would hand the office over to
him, according to the King's instructions, for they were
already at the beginning of December, which was the proper
time to start, and he had the ship Betlem, wherein he could
make the voyage with great comfort, and six other ships to
convoy her. The Viceroy replied that the period of his
government would terminate in January next, and that when
it was SO terminated then he would deliver it over to him.
Wheu Afonso Dalboquerque perceived that this was the
intention of the Viceroy, he would not have any more words
with him, but returned to his own house and sent Antonio
de Sintra, who acted as his secretary (Gaspar Pereira having
remained behind, sick, at Cochim), to show him the powers
and diplomas he held from the King D. Manuel, fastened up
and sealed just as they had been brought. These Antonio
de Sintra opened at the desire of Afonso Dalboquerque, for
the superscriptions stated that they were to be opened when
ever he wished ; and being thus opened, he carried them
before the Viceroy, who, after having read them, told
Antonio de Sintra he had done very wrong in opening
these provisions without first of all informing him, and Afonso
Dalboquerque had greatly erred in the request he had pre
ferred in the presence of Fernao Soarez and Ruy da Cunha ;
he must therefore inform him the best thing he could do
would be to fasten them up again, and so keep them in
secret until his return from Diu.
Antonio de Sintra delivered this message, and told his
master that if it were necessary to fasten up all those docu
ments again, he would do so in such a manner that they
would seem as though they had never been opened. Afonso
Dalboquerque said to him : — " If this is so, then, Antonio
de Sintra, it is not the first time you have done such a
thing ; 1 am not the kind of man to fasten up again the
powers and diplomas of the King, whereby he orders me to

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 3
govern India, after they have been opened. Tell the
Viceroy that since the disposition of the fleet rests with me,
as I am Governor of India, he must deliver it over to me,
that I may go in search of the Bumes." The Viceroy sent
word to him, saying that he himself was already prepared and
determined to prosecute that expedition, but he (Afonso)
was to remain where he was in Cananor, or go to Cochim
and rest awhile from his past labours ; but as soon as he
returned he would deliver the office up to him, according to
the King's instructions. Afonso Dalboquerque replied that
he would not have time to go and return within the year, so
as to be able to go back to Portugal ; but that if he was
determined to stay in India he might govern the country, so
long as he handed over to him the fleet, that he might have
charge of it.
The Viceroy, being weary of these constant messages,
said to Antonio de Sintra : " That will do very well for the
present," and gave him no other reply. On the following
day, in the morning, Lourenco de Brito, Captain of the
Fortress of Cananor^ paid a visit to Afonso Dalboquerque,
hazing been instructed by the Viceroy, and in course of con
versation began telling him not to trouble himself with
requisitions, nor even to talk about such things, for the men
were very desirous that the Viceroy should retain the com
mand J if he pushed the matter very hardly, and put it to
the vote of the captains, all would incHne to this opinion ;
and this he told him, as he said, out of a desire to serve him
and be his friend, for he desired there should be no difier-
ences between him and the Viceroy. Afonso Dalboquerque
replied that as he had not asked him for any advice, he
might keep it to himself, for he had taken plenty of counsel
with the powers and diplomas of the King, D. Manuel,
which he had with him ; his own advice to the Viceroy was
to conform to these documents, and uot make use of go-
betweens.

4 COMMENTARIES OP
When this had taken place, and Afonso Dalboquerque
perceived that the Viceroy would not deliver India to him,
but that the captains who fled away and left him in the war
with Ormuz did many discourteous acts towards him,
being encouraged to them by the Viceroy; in order to
avoid these and similar unpleasantnesses, he proceeded to
embark in the ship Cirne, which had brought him from
Ormuz, and sailed away for Cochim. And in consequence of
the leaky condition of the ship, he was almost cast away on
the voyage, but reached the place on the fourteenth of
December, and remained on board for five days, waiting
until some houses for his occupation could be found. On
his arrival, Gaspar Pereira, Rui de Araujo, and the other
officers of the factory, came to see him, and after giving
them an account of what had passed with the Viceroy in
Cananor, he exhibited to them the powers and diplomas he
held from the King D. Manuel, to be Captain-General of
India, teHing them he did not show these deeds of the
King to force obedience from them, but to let them feel
quite sure that he had demanded of the Viceroy that he
should yield up the command and government of India and
hand it over to him, according to the orders of the King D.
Manuel, for he did not wish to be the cause of any faction :
for already some people had come to him in Cananor and
advised him to call himself Captain-General of India, but
he would not do so, to avoid party diffetences ; but he
would swear to them that he had experienced such treat
ment at Cananor that he feared to encounter dishonourable
outrage, or even death, at their hands.
When Afonso Dalboquerque departed, the Viceroy, fear
ing lest he should send complaints to the King by the ships
which would make the voyage to Portugal that year, wrote
to the Prior do Crato, hia brother, to un^te with the Baron
and with the Governor D. Alvaro de Castro, and all three
speak to the King, and tell him that his stay in India was

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 5
caused by all the captains and noblemen requesting him
not to leave, for if Afonso Dalboquerque remained as
governor there, the Moors would immediately revolt against
us, and therefore he had not delivered over to him the com
mand until his Highness should be informed of what was
going on, and forthwith arrange what should be most advan
tageous to his interest; as for the evil that Dalboquerque
had done in the kingdom of Ormuz, Afonso Lopez da Costa
(who was sent specially for this purpose) could give him a
true account, as could also Gaspar Rodriguez, the inter
preter, who would state that Ormuz was lost to them by
reason of his fault and bad government. The Viceroy sent
Manuel Fragoso with these letters to Cochim in the fusta,
which had brought Nuno Vaz from Ormuz ; and wrote to
Gaspar Pereira that he earnestly desired he would take care
to let no differences arise between Afonso Dalboquerque
and Jorge Barreto, for he did not know whether they were
friendly; and that, to avoid scandal, he would not give him
quarters in the fortress, but let him have the best houses in
the town to occupy (provided they were not in the posses
sion of Joao da Nova), and he would proceed to send him
some notice of the faults laid to the charge of Afonso Dal
boquerque, to show him them ; and he was to endeavour to
persuade him to appropriate everything he could get posses
sion of in the way of pay and goods, when he was Chief
Captain of India, for he had desired to offer him this course
of action, only he had not dared to do so when he saw how
proudly he carried himself, though he had no cause for
it. Afonso Dalboquerque, also, for his part and in his own
manner, wrote to the King, sending him the affidavits he
had ordered to be made out concerning the flight of the
captains, and begged him to punish them. The King D.
Manuel was so angry at this desertion of the captains that,
on the arrival of Afonso Lopez da Costa, he ordered him
immediately to be imprisoned in his castle, and would have

COMMENTARIES OF

had him executed for it, if he had not got off through the
powerful influence of his friends.

CHAPTER II.

How Gaspar Pereira carried the appointments, which the Viceroy gave
him, to the great Afonso Dalboquerque, and of the reply he re
ceived.
When the days had elapsed which Afonso Dalboquerque
spent in the flagship, waiting while they emptied the houses
of Goncalo Fernandez, wherein he was to lodge, he went on
shore ; and Gaspar Pereira went immediately to see him,
and told him that the Viceroy, previous to his departure
from Cananor to Diu, had sent him some drafts of charges
made against him, which he would show him, and if he
would give him permission to lay them before him, or serve
them upon him, he would do so; but if not, they could
remain where they were until the arrival of the Viceroy, for
he himself had nothing to do in the matter except as a
messenger. Afonso Dalboquerque bade him give them to
him, for he had come from Cananor so tired of his dealings
with the Viceroy that unless they contained anything to
alarm him he would prepare to answer them.
The first charge was that he had delayed sending to him
to give up his power which the King had given him, through
Antonio de Sintra, in Cananor, and making the request to
him which he had made in the presence of Fernao Soarez
and Ruy da Cunha, Captains of the King. Afonso Dalbo
querque repHed that he did not comprehend why he should
be so alarmed at the request, when he so often told him
that the King had written to him to return to Portugal and
deliver over the government of India to himself; what was
much more astonishing to him was that he should come to
Canauor aud find him determined not to deliver it over to
liiu), as he liad done.

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 7
The second charge was that he had quitted Qocotora with
out the King's order, and made his way to India, though
he had written to him, through Tristao da Cunha, that his
Highness ordered him to take great care of the place, and
for this reason he had omitted to send any necessary sup
plies thither. Afonso Dalboquerque answered that on arriv
ing at Cananor he had stated that the reason of his coming
was because the weather did not permit any other voyage,
for in the months of November and December one could not
run from Ormuz to the Island of Qocotora, as the winds
were south-east and the weather very rough : another thing,
also, which forced him to come to India was the quantity of
water which the Rey Grande and the Girne made, lest they
should be lost ; and, moreover, the time was now come
wherein the King had ordered him to receive the govern
ment of India. And since he demanded so strict an account
of what he had done, he first ought to have taken an account
from the captains who had deserted their posts in the war,
and from Manuel Telez, who had carried off the supplies
entrusted to him for carriage to the Fortress of Qocotora in
his ship; but these captains he retained in favour before his
eyes. And though he desired very often to give an account
of himself in Cananor, yet the Viceroy would never hsten
to him or look at his instructions, because in them the King
commanded him that if no clause in them bore upon a par
ticular state of affairs, in that case he was to do as would be
most advantageous to his interest; and if he was not pleased
with his coming to India without the King's orders, how
could he, on his part, be pleased with the Viceroy's stay in
India and unwillingness to deliver up to him the govern
ment of it, not caring to follow his orders and instructions ?
As for the letter he had forwarded to him through Tristao da
Cunha, it was to hand, as well as another, wherein he gave
him an account of the flight of his captains, begging him
to send back ships and men and other captains ; wherein.

8 COMJ[ENTAKIES OF
also, he gave him an account of the state in which he
then was; to this one never yet had he seen any reply,
nor had he assisted him, as he was obhged to do by
virtue of his position as Captain-General of the Indies ;
but, on the contrary, he had seen his (the Viceroy's) letters
to the King and Cogeatar, making use of very dis
honourable expressions respecting his own person, holding
his labours as of little value, extolling the actions of the
captains, and stating his good reception of them.
The third charge made against Afonso Dalboquerque
was that he had blockaded Ormuz and prohibited all com
munications during the period protected by the safeguard
which he had himself agreed upon, and Cogeatar had sent
the document to demonstrate this fact to him, but he would
not return it to him again. To this Afonso Dalboquerque
replied that it was true that during this protected period
he had surrounded the Island of Ormuz, and not per
mitted any one to enter or leave the place, for he was
obliged to do so for the safety of his own men and his
fleet, and to remain there waiting for the succour and aid
of the King D. Manuel, for in the letters which he had found
in Ormuz, on his return from Qocotora, directed to Cogeatar,
he had indeed perceived how much help he was likely to
give him. Gaspar Rodriguez, the interpreter, was a true
witness to a letter which Cogeatar had shown him, sealed
with the arms of the King of Portugal, which was of no
other import than to destroy all his labours, and spoke of
himself as if he were a corsair, banished from the kingdom.
When Cogeatar perceived how little value was set upon him,
like a cunning man, he understood how matters lay, and
knew how to take advantage of the opportunity; and it was
not a thing likely to terrify him that some members of his
company were telling him that he had done imprudently to
humour him, since the captains who had deserted him with
the complaint that they were not satisfied with the way the

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 9
war was carried on, and that he had ordered them to fill up
their freights, had come to be well treated by him ; and
those who had protected him and accompanied him in all his
troubles and fortunes, like very true and faithful cavaliers,
had found their prospects unimproved and their cargoes not
laden. And if Cogeatar wished to reap the advantage
of this armistice which he (Alboquerque) offered him, he,
on his part, as was reasonable to expect, would be insured
by Cogeatar ; but he would desire that Cogeatar would keep
to the arrangement, and he desired him to stop the discharge
of arrows, for he was Chief Captain of the King of Portugal,
in whose name the armistice had been entered into.
The fourth charge was that Cogeatar had sent, desiring of
him a mutual order and assignation for an interview, and
that he would not grant it. Afonso replied that he did not
remember whether he had sent it him or not, and even if it
were so, it was not right that it should have been given, for
the order was for himself, concerning his proper duty accord
ing to circumstances, and that he had to give account to the
King D. Manuel of what he had done, because he acted
under his directions. And above all, he had given him a
translation, signed and sealed, and an account of the manner
in which his order had been received. Because, if perchance
the ships and men sent thither bythe King D. Manuel to
help him had gone to seek him according. to the orders pro
mulgated when he first left Portugal, they would have known,
ou arriving at Ormuz, of the events that had taken place
there. The fifth charge was that he had taken a slave away from a
Moorish merchant of Ormuz against his will. Afonso Dal
boquerque rephed that this was not so, but that a caravan
of merchants had come from Persia to Ormuz, and a Moor
brought in company with him a Christian youth from Ruxia,
who, on seeing our ships, fled, and managed to reach them,
and the Moor had demanded the surrender of the youth, but

10 COMMENTARIES OF
he was unwilling to give him up, because he was a Christian
and he would not return with him, but for all that he had not
remained in slavery, and it was not likely that such a man as
he (Afonso Dalboquerque) was, would enslave a youth who
had put himself under his protection under the name of a
Christian. And because Gaspar Pereira, besides these statements,
told Afonso Dalboquerque other things which the Viceroy
had ordered him to say by word of mouth — one of which
was that he was to pay him all due to him for the time he
was in India — Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he should
make answer to the Viceroy that at the Court of the King
of Portugal, whither both of them were proceeding, there
was no place for tricks and artifices to entice him to sell his
honour and personal dignity, but that he trusted, with God's
help, to perform such services in those parts for the King,
our Lord, whereby he might merit the favours of other titles
more noble than that of Viceroy.
After Afonso Dalboquerque had replied to all those points
above described, he ordered Gaspar Pereira to be called,
and, in the presence of Ruy de Araujo and Andr^ Diaz and
the other officers of the Factory at Cochim, who were with
him, he gave him the answers, telling him that he was very
much alarmed for him, since he had gathered, from the
letters which the King had written to him, in his capacity of
Secretary of India, wherein he ordered the Viceroy to return
to Portugal, and him (Afonso) to remain as Governor, that
he had so much dread that he was unwilling to perform the
commands contained in the letters of his Highness, and that
since the Viceroy would not deliver the government of India
over to him, it was not for him to take it by the sword, but
conformably to the orders of the King, his lord. Gaspar
Pereira informed him that he had no doubt that the Viceroy
would yield up the government on his arrival at Diu, for he
had often expressed his intentions of doing so before the

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. JI
officers who were there ; and if the Viceroy would not obey
the King's orders, he himself would resign his office, and
let who would have it, and serve only under him.

CHAPTER III.
Of certain things which passed at Cochim, between the great Afonso
Dalboquerque and Jorge Barreto: and of the letter which Lourenco
de Brito, Captain of Cananor, wrote to him, and of the reply which
was sent to him.
Ten days after the great Afonso Dalboquerque had arrived
at Cochim, Jorge Barreto, captain of the fortress, because
the Viceroy had written to desire there should be no disa
greements between them, went to his house to visit him.
Now he had married a daughter of Fernao Dalboquerque,
brother of Afonso Dalboquerque, and had been well treated
by him, and gained both goods and other favours; but,
not bearing this in mind, he had thrown his weight into
the party of the Viceroy, always informing him of what
ever he. chose about Afonso, and always depreciating his
merits. On this account, despiting his affairs, Afonso did
not receive him graciously, and, when he was taking leave,
sent word to him by a clerk that he begged him very much
of his goodness not to trouble to have much Conversation
with him, nor to visit him, for he was his deadly enemy,
aud spoke ill of him, but when they should happen to meet
in the streets of the place, he would make a show of courtesy
towards him.
Jorge Barreto was ill pleased with the message, and went
to Gaspar Pereira and related it to him, and told him that
after this as he was going in to the church where Dalbo
querque was attending mass he desired to speak with him,
but he turned his eyes on the ground and made as though
he had not perceived him. And he added that he was de
termined to go to the Factory to require the officials to

12 COMMENTARIES OF
draw up a statement of all these doings, to the end that
the Viceroy, at his coming, should knovv the conduct of
Afonso Dalboquerque.
In pursuance of advice which the Viceroy had given him,
that he should mollify him in such a manner as to prevent
any differences arising between them, Gaspar Pereira
betook himself to Afonso Dalboquerque, and after relating
the complaints laid against him by Jorge Barreto, told him
that he did not consider the service of the king promoted
by these differences, and that his being governor of India
ought to be enough for him to put up with all this, and
that they should reserve their disagreements until they
reached Portugal ; and he begged him to go and inspect
the fortress (which he had not entered since his arrival) in
order that the natives of Cochim should not say : " Where
fore would the captain-general not set his foot in the for
tress, nor speak with the captain thereof?" Afonso replied
that he would not have any converse with Jorge Barreto
nor speak to him, because he held this resolve to be for the
king's service on many accounts, for he was not only con
tent, while at Ormuz, to be privy to the flight of the
captains, but also when before the Viceroy he had done
and said all that he could against him. And that as for
stating that he had been unwilling to speak with him in the
church, he would swear upon the Gospels (and here he laid
his hand on a book beside him) that he did not observe
him. As for speaking to him whenever they chanced to
meet, this he would do, but other conversation there should
not be between them. And in order to withdraw himself
from these disagreements, he had given orders to the
master and mariners of the Oirne that all should lay their
complaints in person before Jorge Barreto, for he was
Captain of Cochim, and he for his part did not intend to
have anything to do with the matter.
On the conclusion of this affair, while Gaspar Pereira

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 13
and Antonio Real, Patrao M.6r, and Ruy de Araujo, were
standing on the bank, Jorge Barreto came up on horseback,
and said to them that Afonso Dalboquerque had told Manuel
Pefanha not to speak to him for it was against the good of
the king's service, and that whoever listened to it would
think all the evil in the world of him ; and he begged them
to be so gracious as to draw up a formal statement of these
disturbances in order that the Viceroy might know what
kind of unity there was between them ; for he for his part
had always been very loyal and served his king very well,
and if ever at any hour he found himself in Portugal, he
would ask whether or not it was to the service of the king
to speak to him. Gaspar Pereira went away forthwith to
Afonso Dalboquerque, and desired him earnestly to consign
these differences to the devil, for there was no object to be
gained by them, and they only gave occasion for gossip.
And he replied that if he really thought so he might order
them to get his brigantine ready for the passage to Cananor,
in order that he might stay there out of sight of Jorge
Barreto, and out of hearing of all these troubles.
When Gaspar Pereira discovered that Afonso Dalbo
querque was annoyed by his desiring to patch up a friend
ship with Jorge Barreto, he betook himself to his own house,
and said no more in the matter. And within the space of
two days, they forwarded a letter of Lourenco de Brito,
Captain of Cananor, to Afonso Dalboquerque, wherein he
stated that he begged him of his favour to be very circum
spect in his intercourse with the natives of Cochim, for he
would assure him that in all the world he had never seen
such a bad set of people ; and he would have him also to
know that nothing could be done or said in Cochim without
the Viceroy being informed of it wherever he went. But
in Cananor, where he was, he congratulated himself every
morning when he rose, and begged God to preserve him
from the bickerings and quarrellings of Cochim ; and that he

14 COMMENTARIES OP
should not worry himself about things that had passed be
tween him and the Viceroy at Cananor, for he hoped all
would turn out well, and he would serve him (Afonso) well
in India. And so he went on saying many other things
very different to what he had said before the Viceroy, and
begged he would tear up this letter without delay.
Reply op the Great Afonso Dalboquerque to Loueenqo
DE Beito.
" I beg you of your favour to put your trust in me, for
my experience and intelligence never wrecked a venture ;
and well do I believe that they report another thing now
about me in India, but I forgive them all, for time and place
compels them to do what they are doing. But before the
King, our lord, with whom rests the reward of our services,
all must speak the truth, and then shall be known all that
has been done and is to be done in India. Think not that
the country, or the customs of it, can avail to injure the
powers which I hold from the King, our lord, because the
noble spirit which I possess and my weighty knowledge
easily dissipate all these differences, and I apply to all of them
this verse of David, when he says : ' 8i^ Deus adjutor mihi,
non timebo quidfaciat mihi homo?' Nevertheless, Sir, have
no concern for me, but rather have it for the captains of the
King, our lord, who hold their commissions and letters-
missive of his Highness directed to me, wherein he holds
me for his Captain-General in these parts of India, yet they
are unwilling to obey me, although I presented myself in
person at proper time, when the Viceroy had six vessels in
freight and a strong monsoon to enable him to set out. And
bear in mind that you showed me your letter, and I do not
fail to remember the favour which you offered to do for me,
• Psalm cxviii, 6, Domimts ¦mihi adjutor, etc. " The Lord is on my
side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" [Ps. 118, 6.]

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 15
when the Viceroy was about to start for Diu, which was that
I should remain behind as your Castellan while you went
with him. Just so now. Sir, the advice and sufferance,
which there in Cananor I had in these matters, I shall not
fail to appreciate, now that I am here placed in a hut of
straw, with the title of Captain-General of these parts, as
the King, our lord, calls me to-day in Portugal ; and do you.
Sir, believe that since all these things could hardly make any
impression upon me when I was in Cananor, little power
ought these mischief-makers to have over me in this land,
where they are always repeating : ' Here he said good of the
Viceroy, there he said bad of him.' These ceremonious
speeches will not be found to proceed from me, nor is there
anyone who dares to bring news to my inn, because this
courtesy was ever mine, as well by nation as by creation ; in
this last I have nothing to say, for we all desire to serve the
King. This is what 1 know in this hermitage, wherein I rest
all day and all night ; and with respect to what you say
in desiring me to keep secret your communication to me,
your letter was torn up immediately, without relating any
thing about it to anyone."
And with this letter they gave to Afonso Dalboquerque
another from Pero Fernandez Tinoco, wherein he said that
he ought not to rely on the promise of the Viceroy to hand
over India when he returned from Diu, because after his
departure to Cochim he had held a council with his captains,
his friends, and retainers, and agreed not to deliver it up,
but to send him (Afonso) to Portugal by the first oppor
tunity of a fleet.

16 commentaries of

CHAPTER IV.
How the Viceroy, D. Francisco Dalmeida, after routing the Rumes, set
out from Diu, and arrived at Cananor with LoureuQO de Brito, and
so on to Cochim : and of what took place with the great Afonso
Dalboquerque on his arrival.
After the Viceroy had destroyed the fleet of the Rumes,
he set sail and made his way to Cananor, where he received
letters from Jorge Barreto, containing much bad news of the
great Afonso Dalboquerque, and from Gaspar Pereira and
Ruy de Araujo. And because Lourenqo de Brito, Captain of
the fortress, was the one who fomented these disturbances,
he also, on his part, began to be in an ill-humour, and told
him many things against Afonso Dalboquerque, having, it
may be, forgotten the letter which he had written to him.
The Viceroy, who had been informed of everything they told
him had taken place, without making any stay, set forth, and
reached Cochim on the eighth day of the month of March,
in the year one thousand five hundred and nine, with deter
mination of not rendering up to Afonso Dalboquerque the
government of India, being urged to this by the captains
who had fled from the war at Ormuz, and by others of their
way of thinking. On receiving intelligence of the arrival of
the Viceroy, Afonso Dalboquerque summoned before him the
officers of the Factory and Gaspar Pereira, and told them
that as the Viceroy was now arrived, he desired to make a
requisition for the formal delivery of India to himself, which
they, as officers of the King, might present to him. And just
as they were all thus engaged, and Afonso Dalboquerque was
writing the requisition with Joao Estao, news was brought
that the Viceroy was coming down the river in the galley
which he had captured from the Rumes. So the officers, as
they were obliged to go and receive him, proceeded all
together to the bank, and got into the boat with Jorge de

afonso dalboquerque. 17
Melo, to accompany him. When the Viceroy saw them, he
got out of the galley and went into the boat with them, aud
disembarked close to the fortress, where there were awaiting
him all the clergy, drawn up in a procession, and Jorge
Barreto, Captain of Cochim, with many people. So Afonso
Dalboquerque left the requisition which he was drawing up,
and, accompanied by some persons who were taking a meal
with him, proceeded to receive the Viceroy, and stood a long
while on the beach awaiting his landing. But he, as soon as
he landed, made as though he did not see him, and went up
at once directly towards Jorge Barreto, and embraced him,
and paid many compliments both to him and to the others
who were standing by.
Afonso Dalboquerque did not fail to notice the little count
the Viceroy made of him, so he took hold of him by a tag of
his brocaded over-dress, and said : "Ah, Sir, here I am; see
me ! " The Viceroy turned round to him, and begged
pardon for not having seen him, and without saying another
word began to walk on ; and so they all went in procession
to the church, and Master Diogo preached, greatly lauding
the victory the Viceroy had achieved over the Rumes. When
the Service came to an end, the Viceroy proceeded to the
fortress, in company with the captains and men who were
there, and just as he reached the gate Afonso Dalboquerque
said to him : " Sir, seeing that God has given you so com
plete a victory, and you have avenged the death of your son
with so much honour, and there is no more to do in the
matter, I beg you of your grace let there be no differences
between us, but deliver to me the government of India by
these provisions which I here hold from the King, our lord ;
and trust me that I shall not allow it to be lost, as my
enemies would make you believe, for even now in Cananor
I sent the papers for your inspection by Antonio de Sintra
but you would not look at them, and sent me word advising
me to seal them up again."

18 commentaeies of
While this conversation was taking place, Gaspar Pereira,
whom the Viceroy had sent for, arrived, and Afonso Dalbo
querque said to him : " Gaspar Pereira, as you are my
scrivener, I require you, on the part of the King, our lord,
to notify to the Lord Viceroy and to all the captains, fidalgos,
and men here present these provisions, which here I deliver
to you, whereby the King, our lord, commands the Lord
Viceroy to deliver up to me India, and to set forth on the
back of the papers an instrument containing his assent
thereto or refusal, as the case may be." When Afonso Dal
boquerque had made an end of saying these words, the
Viceroy turned his back upon him, saying : " You have no
scrivener dependent on you where I am," and without
further reply betook himself indoors ; and Gaspar Pereira,
with the instructions given to him by Afonso Dalboquerque,
went in behind the Viceroy, and so did many others ; and
they began to laugh and quarrel over his requisition. And
Joao da Nova, who was one of them, began to say to the
Viceroy that he would do well if he sent him loaded with
irons to Portugal, for he was a fool, who knew not what he
said ; and that he, on his part, knew very well who it was
that was advising him to walk in these silly ways, pointing
all these hints at Gaspar Pereira.

CHAPTER V.

How the Viceroy behaved towards Gaspar Pereira and Ruy de Araujo
and the other officers of the Factory, with regard to the interview
which he had held with the great Afonso Dalboquerque.
After the Viceroy had remained for a while conversing of
the affairs in which he had been engaged at Diu, he dis
missed the meeting, and remained behind with Ruy de Arau
jo, Andr^ Diaz, Pedromem, Antonio de Sintra, and Gaspar
Pereir.i, officers of the King, and Jorge de Melo, whom he

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 19
desired to stay with him ; and then he began to say : "Now
that we are alone, I would like to talk a little about that
which was said to me by that foolish Afonso Dalboquerque,
who is so impertinent that he would not allow us to take
any rest, nor reach home, but immediately that I disem
barked said that I gave him a bad reception, and made a
disturbance, which you all heard, styling Gaspar Pereira his
scrivener. You can well see hereby with how little reason it
is that he demands that I should deliver over to him the
government of India, and is unwilling to talk sensibly about
it. As for the blame of this, it rests with the King, who
favours this foolish fellow, and therefore let him look to the
consequences. And the wonder is, that you, Gaspar Pereira,
when he styled you his scrivener, did not laugh nor nudge
with your elbows those who stood beside you, and call him
senseless ; but as you did not do so, but received from him
those papers that you have now in your hands, and did not
undeceive him there and then that he was not to be governor
of India, all this is a sign that you are agreeable to his do
ings, and that it is true that you and Ruy de Araujo are
advising him to do all these things, although I could not
have believed it if I had not been certified of it in Cananor.
But be sure that this business shall not be cured with herbs^
and ointments, but with cold iron ; for it is a case of treason
and rebellion against the King our Lord and his Viceroy
in India." And then with increased passion he stood up
erect on his feet, and taking hold of his uniform, said :
"Gaspar Pereira, I vow to God, by this uniform, with which
I have been invested, that if you carry on with this business
any further, I will order you to be loaded with irons, and
dragged along this beach; and as for the fooHsh Afonso
Dalboquerque, I shall punish him thoroughly, if he says
any more about it. So give him back his papers to take
care of, for I will not look at them. And I vow to God that
' Malvas, mallows.

20 COMMENTARIES OF
I will forthwith imprison any man, even though he be one
of the best in India, who sides with his statements and
demands." The dismay the Viceroy produced was so great, that all
the officers were trembling with fear; but Gaspar Pereira, as
he was put out, took no notice of his passion, and said to hitn :
"Wherefore does your Lordship treat these matters as if I
had more to do with them than these other officers who are
present ? It seems as though you would mix me up in
them, whereas I am only here as the officer whose duty it
is to exhibit these instructions of the King our Lord, which
Afonso Dalboquerque has given to me, to your Lordship."
The Viceroy replied : " How is it then, that you consented
that he should call you his scrivener?" Gaspar Pereira
answered : "As your Lordship appears determined to argue
to your own disadvantage,! I shall tell you. The King our
Lord made him his Captain-General of India on the expira
tion of the time of your Lordship's rule, and me he made his
secretary, and writes to me to that effect and to your Lord
ship as well, and in his instructions he says the same, and
on this account your Lordship is wrong to reprove me for
allowing him to style me his scrivener."
The Viceroy replied : " It will be as God pleases. I know
not in good faith, for the King does not know what he is
ordering, nor does he know what the true position of India is;
let all the captains assemble, and then we shall know how
this will turn out ; for I will not deliver India to a madman
who will hurl her into destruction." Gaspar Pereira said to
him : "I know nought of all this, that is for your Lordship to
determine about ; all I have to do is to obey him whom the
King our Lord shall order me to obey; and do you, who
understand it better than I do, and have to give an account
of it, do as you think fit." The Viceroy replied : " Deuce
1 Que isto quebrepolo mais fraco, literally, that this should break where
it is the u'Cal:est.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 21
take me, Gaspar Pereira; but you understand this better
than I do or anyone else, and now I am not surprised ex
cept at the conduct of Ruy de Araujo, who is here before
me, because he has done all the good he could to Afonso
Dalboquerque, and is, set up in opposition to me as well."
Ruy de Araujo replied : " What have I done to your Lord
ship ? or in what have I acted ungratefully for the kindness
and honour which you have bestowed upon me? For I
never spoke against you, nor is there anything to my know
ledge in which I have acted against your interests. I came
to assist at your reception on the beach, on your arrival ; I
would have kissed your hands, as of my superior, but you
were unwilling to see me. But I well know that this does
not spring from your Lordship ; it is the doing of Jorge
Barreto, who wishes me ill on account of a demand I have
made upon him to desist from building a ship which he was
desirous of constructing for himself contrary to the orders
of the King, at a time when your Lordship was at Diu."
The Viceroy said : " You go the wrong way to work,^
for all that you came to receive me, I would that you all
had cat's-tails on your heads, like little imps ; and I have
found you very sullen, like men who were sorry to see me;
for I can tell at once, when they pass by, by the way they
put their feet on the ground, who they are who wish me
well, and who they are that wish me ill." And by this time
he was so much annoyed at the mention of Jorge Barreto,
that he made use of very bad expressions and was all but
laying haiids on the speaker. But Ruy de Araujo, who was
a man of good judgment, went out by the door, and betook
himself home without another word.
Although the great Afonso Dalboquerque, in putting up
with all these expressions which the Viceroy spoke against
' Nao vai ella por hi. The full expression is Nao vai por ahi o
gato as flhozes. "This is not the way the cat goes to her kittens," a
proverbial and colloquial phrase. See Viiijra.

22 COMMENTAEIES OF
him, gained more honour than in the trouble which he had
taken in the conquest of the kingdom of Ormuz, nevertheless
it would have seemed right to me to remind the Viceroy, had
he been alive, of the many acts of friendship which his great-
great-grandfather had experienced at the hands of Gonqalo
Lourenqo de Gomide,^ the great-grandfather of Afonso Dal
boquerque, when he was private scrivener to the King D.
Joao, of good memory, and very influential with him. I
could say much upon this matter, but as he is dead, I must
go on with the history, and leave to those who shall read it,
to judge by the exploits of Afonso Dalboquerque whether
or not the Viceroy was right in asserting that he was unfit
to govern India.

CHAPTER VI.

Of what passed between the Viceroy and Gaspar Pereira, and of the
message sent by the Viceroy through him to the great Afonso
Dalboquerque ; and how he gave an account to the officers of the
Factory at Cochim, and to Jorge de Melo and the rest of the cap
tains of what had happened with regard to the pepper ; and of the
doings of Anchecala with them, iu the Factory.
Now, because the Viceroy was but little pleased with
this interview which he had with Gaspar Pereira and the
other officers of the Factory, after the lapse of three days
he sent for him, and in the presence of Jorge Barreto told
him that on the late occasion of conversing with him respect
ing the impertinences of Afonso Dalboquerque, he (Gaspar)
had made use of some expressions, as though he wished him
ill, and to these he (the Viceroy) had not then cared to re
ply because the house was full of people; but since his three
years of government of India were finished (as had been
alleged), why had he accepted the offices which he had
given him to fill with him ? Gaspar Pereira said to him :
" I, sir, wi.sh you no ill ; as for these offices, you have given
' See his pedigree in Lansd. MS. 189, fo. 5816.

AVONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 23
them to me without my asking you for them, when Afonso
Dalboquerque was yet in Ormuz, and your Lordship used
sometimes to say to me that when he arrived you would
have forthwith to deliver up to him the government of
India ; and you used to laugh at those who advised you not
so to yield the government to him ; and your Lordship may
remember that when Tristao da Cunha arrived here, they
told you that Manuel Fernandez (who had accompanied him
from Portugal) asserted that Afonso Dalboquerque had
been appointed to the succession in India, on the expiration
of the three years' service of your Lordship ; and you re
plied to him who reported this to you, that you did not care
whether you delivered the. succession to Afonso Dalboquer
que, or to a bird in the sky, provided that you had the
King's orders. If this be so, in what have I erred in per
forming these duties to which your Lordship has appointed
me?" The Viceroy replied: "These are very fine speeches,
which have no practical meaning ; but how would you have
me surrender so important a post as the government of
India to a fool who would drive the country to destruction ?
There is Martin Coelho, and others with him, who even
advised me to arrest him and send him in irons to Portugal."
To this Gaspar Pereira answered : " These very men who
gave you this advice go about saying, behind your Lord
ship's back, that more honour would accrue to you if you
surrendered the command on Afonso's arrival here, than
that which you gained by your victory over the Rumes.
But since there is so much discord in this matter, I beg
your Lordship to let me go, and as for the offices to which
you have appointed me, give them to some one else, for the
end of all this will be that the King will be sure to reward
you both, while I shall be left to atone for all these differ
ences. Yet I think that the person who busies himself with
these scandalous tales would be doing far more service to

24 COMMENTARIES OF
the King if he would remind your Lordship that there is no
pepper for loading the ships, in order that some provision
for procuring it may be made. As it is, the officers of the
King of Cochim, when they are asked for it, say there is
none, and give no hopes of there being any."
When Jorge Barreto heard the allusions which Gaspar
Pereira made, he replied : " How is it possible that we can
have any pepper if Afonso Dalboquerque, Gaspar Pereira,
and Ruy de Araujo advise the King not to deliver it, unless
your Lordship surrender the government of India to Afonso
Dalboquerque and retire to Portugal. This is the true
reason why the pepper does not come, and not that which
Gaspar Pereira states." The Viceroy was angry ^t this
which Jorge Barreto said, and sent word to AJbnso Dal
boquerque by Gaspar Pereira to be prudent enough to ab
stain from showing any more to any one the powers and
letters patent he had received from the King D. Manuel,
and to make no more remonstrances with him, and not to
call himself Captain-General of India; but that he might,
if he chose, call himself captain of the ship Girne; and
from that day henceforth not to hold any more meetings in
his house, for information had been laid that some of those
men who frequented his table spoke much that was ill of
the Viceroy.
And in addition he summoned the officers of the factory
at Cochim, and Ruy de Araujo, and told them how Gaspar
Pereira had stated that there was no pepper in the factory,
nor expectation of getting any, and how he understood that
all this arose from the foolishness of Afonso Dalboquerque,
who had set himself up in his house with two men, one of
whom he styled factor, and the other scrivener, and was
paying them wages with the money he had brought with
him from Ormuz. " For he wants", said the Viceroy, " to
show the Indians that there are two of us chief captains,
a thing very prejudicial to the service of the king, and

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 25
worthy of punishment as a case of treason. But in truth
it is I myself who am to blame, for I used to allow him to
approach me every day, and associate with me, as others do
who are much worthier than he is. The reason I do not
now allow it is that I cannot possibly endure him, and I am
irritated when I see him before me, for he is so imperious,
and addresses me so cavalierly, that I cannot bear it, and
all he speaks of is his services, and his honour, and the
estimation due to his person. Now since this dissension
between me and him is the cause of the pepper not arriving
at the factory for the loading of the ships, I have summoned
you here to give me your advice how to proceed in the
matter." Gaspar Pereira and Ruy de Araujo exclaimed that they
had nothing to say in the business, but that his Lordship
should obtain information of the truth of it, and proceed to
do what he thought most to the service of the King our
Lord. However, Andr^ Diaz, Antonio de Sintra, and
Diogo Pereira thought that he ought to order him to de
liver immediately to the King's factory all the merchandise
and money which he had brought from Ormuz. Acting on
this advice, the Viceroy sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque,
by Diogo Pereira, to order all that had been brought from
Ormuz to be delivered over to Andrd Diaz, who acted as
factor, and if anything were owing to him he would give
order for its payment in the King's factory, for there must
not be two factories nor two captains-major.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied to Diogo Pereira that he
held no more money than was due to him for his salary and
expenses. And since he had acquired possession of it with
his lance in his hand, and had issued orders for the pay
ment of fifteen thousand cruzados of wages to the men who
had accompanied him, it was not very unreasonable that he
should also pay himself out of the same fund. The Vice
roy replied that it was quite right that he should be paid

26 COMMENTARIES OP
his dues, but the factor of his fleet was to proceed at once
to give in his accounts to the officers of the King, and dis
burse no more payments. Afonso Dalboquerque, was an
noyed at these messages, and said to Diogo Pereira : " Say
to the Viceroy, let the factor make up his accounts, for all
the good this will procure will be the punishment of him
who goes about with these lying tales."
Now since these dissensions which had sprung up be
tween them were of public notoriety, a Naire^ who was
scrivener of the revenue of the King of Cochim, by name
Anchecala, came to the factory where all the officers of the
King had assembled ; and after conversing about the cargo
of pepper, told them that these matters of difference be
tween Afonso Dalboquerque and the Viceroy seemed to
the people on land to be in a bad state. And, he added,
the King of Cochim, his lord, was one day talking to him
on many subjects, and had said that he thought the Portu
guese were opposed in opinion one with the other, but up
to that time he had always believed that they were all of
one accord, and perfectly obedient to the commands of their
king. For the one thing the people of Malabar were most
surprised at, and which caused them the most consterna
tion, was the implicit obedience which the Portuguese
tendered to their king, although they were so far distant
from him ; seeing that he had been told that even if a
cabin boy were to arrive with a commission of the King of
Portugal, every one would obey him. But now he observed
so many differences among them, that all those on land
were astonished, for they saw Afonso Dalboquerque put
into a house, and the Viceroy making but little account of
him, and that this thing ought not to be ; but rather they
ought to be great friends, and unanimous for the proper
performance of the service of the King of Portugal : yet
' For explanation of this word, see Vol. i, page 4.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 27
the Viceroy had sent word to him by Gaspar da India'
that he did not intend to go back to Portugal, whereat he
was much surprised, for the King D. Manuel, his brother,
had written to him informing him of the Viceroy's recall
and the appointment of Afonso Dalboquerque to be go
vernor of India. Therefore he had made up his mind to
send some ambassadors to Portugal to inform the King of
all that was passing, and that the king, his lord, was
much annoyed at the treating of Afonso Dalboquerque so ill
before them all, and at the evil reports that were in circu
lation respecting him.
At this, Andre Diaz, who was there present, began to
excuse the Viceroy's conduct ; saying, that he was not to
be blamed for the disturbances that had arisen with Afonso
Dalboquerque, for the captains and all the people of India
were unwilling to agree that he should return to Portugal,
in so far as concerned the service of the king. But Anche
cala, having concluded the business for which he had come,
took his leave of the officers and went away ; while Andrd
Diaz went to see the Viceroy, and repeated to him all that
Anchecala had said before the officers in the factory. The
Viceroy was greatly surprised at it, and said, " Does not
the little he-goat of the King of Cochim know that I will
order him to be taken back to that island, and will make
him a CaimaP again as he used to be ? and as for the he-
goat of Candagora, I will punish him thoroughly well ac
cording to his deserts, for it is by hira that this one is ad
vised to talk in this manner". And with this show of anger ho
sent orders to Afonso Dalboquerque that he should not
stir forth out of his house, nor hold any communication with
the king, nor with his officers.
' This is probably Gaspar Rodriguez, the interpreter, who occurs
frequently in Vol. i. The first edition also reads Gaspar da India.
^ For the signification of this word, see Vol. i, page 3.

28 COMMENTARIES OF

CHAPTER VII.
How Francisco de Tavora, owing to some words he had with Jorge de
Melo Pereira concerning the great Afonso Dalboquerque, sent him
a challenge, and what took place thereafter ; and of the arrival of
Diogo Lopez de Sequeira in India.
Jorge Barreto and Joao da Nova were so desirous that
the Viceroy should stay in India, for they were the prime
movers of this scheme, that they tried every means in their
power to move the people to wrath against the great Afonso
Dalboquerque. And they kept on going about from house
to house, saying to the men that they ought to bear in
mind how much they were indebted to the Viceroy, and
how much more fitted than Afonso Dalboquerque he was to
be Governor of India, and that the Viceroy had assured
them that he was determined on no account to deliver up
the government, a;8, indeed, they would soon see, and as
things were in this state they ought not to frequent
Afonso's house, nor eat with him, for they would thereby
be ruining themselves.
Now inasmuch as Francisco de Tavora had been much
angered at the Viceroy, and spoke very ill of him, because
of injuries he had received at the hands of Jorge Barreto,
who wished him harm (for in Ormuz he (Jorge) had stated
to Afonso Dalboquerque that the captains had been advised
to desert by him), Jorge Barreto did all he could to be
come reconciled with him, because he feared that as he
(Francisco de Tavora) was on friendly terms with Jorge de
Melo (who was a great friend of Afonso Dalboquerque,
and constantly went to his house), he would be able to
reckon him as a friend, and one who would go against the
Viceroy. And in order to foster yet further this friendli
ness, the Viceroy was persuaded to permit Francisco da
Tavora to lupair his ship, and showed him some marks

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 29
of kindness, for this was the principal cause of his com
plaints. When Francisco da Tavora found that the Viceroy was
favourable to him, and had given him instructions for get
ting his ship repaired, he imagined that Afonso Dalbo
querque no longer was likely to obtain the government of
India, as the others had indeed told him, so he began to
circulate ill reports concerning him, in order to ingratiate
himself still further with the Viceroy. Some time after
wards, one day when Jorge de Melo happened to be in
Francesco da Tavora's house at night, conversing on cur
rent events, and saying that he considered it wrong of the
Viceroy to give out openly that he would not return to
Portugal, and that he would not deliver India into the
hands of Afonso Dalboquerque (and this too in the presence
of Fernao Perez de Andrade), Francisco de Tavora said to
him : " Sir, you ought not to speak ill of the Viceroy, nor
defame him." Jorge de Melo replied, "I never spoke ill
of the Viceroy ; and if you assert that I spoke ill of him, I
must tell you that you do not speak the truth. But on the
contrary, you yourself have oftentimes told me that you
wished him ill, because he would not give you permission to
repair your ship, and also because he had an enmity against
you for not deserting from Ormuz when the other captains
deserted. This is the truth, but now it seems you have
changed sides, which is not the part of an honest man and
a cavalier." Hereupon many angry words passed between them, and
next day, in the morning, Francisco da Tavora sent to
Jorge de Melo a written challenge by the hands of Fernao
Perez de Andrade. And when Fernao had arrived at Jorge
de Melo's house, and had just given him the writing from
Francisco de Tavora, there came in, close behind him, a
servant of the Viceroy, who had been sent to summon
Jorge de Melo before him, for he had been informed of all

30 COMMENTAEIES OP
that had taken place, and understood that Francisco de
Tavora had done this by the advice of every one, and
thought that Jorge de Melo would attend to the Viceroy's
summons, and not go to the duel, but remain thereby de
prived of honourable satisfaction. But Jorge de Melo saw
through the affair, and told the servant to return, for he
would follow at once. And as soon as the servant had de
parted, he took a sword and a cloak,' and, accompanied by
one of his servants, he made his way to the rope-yard,
which was the place that Francisco de Tavora had appointed
for the meeting.
When he had reached the appointed spot, he sent word
twice tb Francisco de Tavora that he was waiting there,
and begged him not to delay. But meanwhile Antonio de
Sintra had arrived at Francisco de Tavora's house, and sum
moned him to the Viceroy's, and after they got there, the
Alcaide major went to seek for Jorge de Melo at the rope-
yard, where he yet remained, and took him prisoner, and
as they went in at the gate of the castle the Viceroy said to
him : — " I promise you, Jorge de Melo, that you shall pay
me for what you have said and for what you have done."
He then ordered them to shut him up in the keep,^ with
fetters on his feet, and not allow any one to speak with him.
When Afonso Dalboquerque heard of the imprisonment of
Jorge de Melo, he went to the Viceroy, and begged him of
his kindness to liberate him, and make them two friends
again. But the Viceroy replied that the time was not yet
come for this, for he would first of all have to issue a com
mission of enquiry, and then visit with justice the one who
should be found to be in fault.
Afonso Dalboquerque, as soon as he understood this, was
unwilling to speak any more for the liberation of Jorge de
> .Bedem, a Moorish word, according to Bluteau and the dictionaries,
hut I am unable to identify it with any Eastern word of allied meaning.
' Torre de menagem. See Vol. i, p. 45.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 31
Melo ; but ten days afterwards there arrived Diogo Lopez
de Siquiera, who came from Portugal as chief captain of
four ships, and at his request the Viceroy ordered Jorge de
Melo to be set at liberty, and made them friends again.
This Diogo Lopez the King D. Manuel had sent to discover
Malaca,' bnt he reached Cochim in very distressed condi
tion, for after he had set out he never sighted the land
again. And having brought his interview with the Viceroy
to an end, and given him an account of all that the King
ordered to be done, he went away to his house, accom
panied by Jorge Barreto and Antonio do Campo, who began
to say many things that were ill of Afonso Dalboquerque,
and how thoroughly determined all the people of India were
not to consent that he should be their governor, and how
they, on their part, would advise him, as friends, if he
wished to get well through his business, to take care not to
make any show of friendship towards Afonso Dalboquerque,
and not even to venture to his house.
Three days afterwards, the Viceroy sent for Diogo Lopez
de Siquiera, and in the presence of Jeronymo Teixeira told
him that he was especially gratified at his arrival at this
juncture of events, for he had made up his mind to go to
Portugal, taking Afonso Dalboquerque along with him (as it
was not good for the King's service that he should become
governor of India), and that he, Diogo, should remain as
chief captain of India, until the King D. Manuel should
provide for this matter as he thought best. But Diogo
Lopez very politely thanked him for this kind mark of
1 " Neste mesmo anno [1508] foy Diogo Lopez de Siqueira, Almota^el
moor de Reino, por Capitao mor de quatro Nauios, a 9inco de Abril para
It, descohrir, e Conquistar, Malaca : Capitaes Jeronimo Teixeira (na
n&o Sta. Clara), Goncalo de Souza, e Joao Nunes.— E Voltou C6 todas
as Naos a Saluamento ao Reyno."— British Museum, Additional MS.,
20902, fo. 11 (but for another account of the expedition, see fo. IU).
Afonso Dalboquerque subjected Malaca to the Crown of Portugal, as
will be seen further ou.

32 COMMENTARIES OP
favour he sought to bestow upon him, but all the same de
clined to accept any charge which the king had not laid
upon him, and he hinted that if the Viceroy really sought to
do him a favour, it would be in despatching him at once to
prosecute the voyage appointed to him by the king.
The Viceroy did not really intend all this that he put for
ward, but only desired to gain over Diogo Lopez, and have
him on his side, so he took no more steps to press on him
the acceptance of the government, but ordered him to re
pair his ships, and gave him pilots, and all that was neces
sary for him in great abundance for his voyage. While on
his part Diogo Lopez de Siquiera, in order to keep in good
favour with the Viceroy, commenced from that time forward
to withdraw himself from the conversation of Afonso Dal
boquerque, and to exculpate the captains for their deser
tion.

CHAPTER VIII.

Of the requisition which Jorge Barreto and Joao da Nova, in accord
ance with the opinion of some of the captains, made to the Viceroy
D. Francisco Dalmeida, that he should not deliver the government
of India to Afonso Dalboquerque, and of the counsel they all took
upon this matter.
For all that the Viceroy would have been glad to remain
in India, nevertheless, he was in dread that the King D.
Manuel would not receive him favourably, so he was ever
seeking for means whereby he might let him know how
great the service was that he was performing in retaining
his government. And although by means of the Prior of
Crato,' his brother, he had already essayed this, one day,
1 Crato, or Ocrato, near Portalegre, contains a castle and a Royal
Priory, which is the largest and richest house of the Order of Malta, or
Knights Hospitallers, in the whole of Portugal. See Juan Alverez de
Colmenar, " Les Delices de V Espagne et du Portugal; and Zedler's Uni-

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 33
when he was talking vyitli Jorge Barreto and Joao da Nova,
he said to them that they could see very well how India
stood in great risk of being lost if Afonso Dalboquerque
remained therein ; but yet he, for his part, could do nought
else than return to Portugal and obey the mandates of the
Kiug his Lord, unless the captains aud all the people of
India made him a formal request that he should not go.
For he dreaded lest the king of Cochim, by reason of the
hatred which he had towards him, and by reason of the
kindliness which he evinced for Afonso Dalboquerque,
should write to the king of this business which had taken
place from a different point of view.
Thereupon Joao da Nova and Jorge Barreto, who were
the principal ones who wove this web, combined themselves
with Antonio do Campo, Andre Diaz, Diogo Pereira, Anto
nio de Sintra, and Diogo Pirez (who was governor to D. Lou
renco), and arranged a requisition for presentation to the
Viceroy. And when they had drawn it up, they both of
them went about from house to house to the captains aud
fidalgos, and showed it to them, aud begged thera to sign
it, since they kuew that Afouso Dalboquerque was a mau of
great inaptitude, aud covetous, and of uo sense, aud one
who knew not how to govern anything,' much less so great
a charge as the Empire of India. And after that raany had
so signed the document (in order that this requisition might
go with better credit before the Kiug D. Manuel), they
made their way to the King of Cochim, and took with them
Antonio de Sintra, aud told the king to look well after his
own interests, for Afonso Dalboquerque was in the habit of
corresponding with the Qamorim, aud had promised to
make peace with him directly after being appointed Gover
nor of India, aud to establish in Calicut a factory house.
vcr.ial Lexicon. The Priors or Grand-Priors were usually of royal birth
or noble family, and possessed not only great ecclesiastical power hut a
considerable amount of political influence.

34 COMMENTARIES OF
They told the king, in addition, that the captains and all the
people of India, by reason of the dread they felt at all these
matters, and likewise by reason of what was due to their
service, had prepared a requisition to the Viceroy, begging
him not to leave India, and that they desired him eamestly
of his graciousness that he on his part would deign to be
favourable to this their business, for in all the country there
could not be found any one who with better reason than
himself ought to condole with them at the turn the King
of Portugal's affairs had taken.
To them the King of Cochim made answer that he did
not intend to do such a thing, because it did not appear
that it would be to the service of the King of Portugal to
do so : but on the contrary he thought it wrong of the
Viceroy not to resign the government of India to Afonso
Dalboquerque, in accordance with, the commands of the
King of Portugal. It was not long before the Viceroy was
informed of the replies of the King of Cochim, and there
upon he sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque that the officers
of the factory were complaining that the king was unwilling
to send any pepper to the scales, out of love for him ; and,
therefore, he (Afonso) must take care not to send any more
messages to the king. And so Afonso Dalboquerque, in
order not to give occasion for quarrelling, withdrew himself
from all communication with the king. And now that Joao
da Nova and Jorge Barreto had completed their documents,
on a Monday, the fifteenth day of May, in the year fifteen hun
dred and nine, the Viceroy commanded that all the captains
of India, and the fidalgos, who were in Cochim, should be
called to a council. Some of these captains were inimical
to Afonso Dalboquerque, because he had accused them of
the weakness they had shown in letting D. Louren90, his
chief captain, be dashed to pieces, especially Diogo Pirez,
D. Lourenqo's governor.
It was on the occasion of this calamity that D. LourenQO,

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 35
when he saw Diogo Pirez going down the river in the gal
ley (according to the relation afterwards given by Alvaro
Lopez, master of his ship, who was then taken captive),
said to him : — " 0 thou traitor of a Jew, get thee far away
from me, for I promise thee that if I escape from this, since
I have been deceived with thee, before my father, I will
kill thee with my fists, foi' thou couldst have assisted me
with the galley, but thou wouldst not."
There, were present also at this meeting the captains who
had fled from Ormuz, and Antonio de Mendon^a, Manuel
PeQanha, and Diogo Lopez de Siqueira. When all were
met together, Jorge Barreto, who was the one on whora it
devolved to open the business, stood up and declared that
these lords who were present there requested him with one
accord, not to deliver India to Afonso Dalboquerque until
his Highness should be informed of the wickedness and
tyrannies that he had committed in the kingdom of Ormuz,
as could be seen set out in the articles which they there and
then laid before the Viceroy, together with the formal re
quisition. Hereupon the Viceroy ordered the immediate reading of
the text of the requisition and the articles, before all, by
Antonio de Sintra. And when they had been read, he told
them that it was their duty to observe carefully the matter
into which they were entering, because that business was of
great importance. And if he were to do that which they
desired of him, they on their part would have to write to
the king that they had advised him so to do ; for his High
ness had confided the state of India to their forethought
and sense. "And principally," he added, "let Senhor
Manuel Pecanha, who is here present, look to it ; for the
King our Lord orders that if I die, he is to remain govern
ing India, therefore it properly falls upon him to see to
these matters."
As soon as the Viceroy had uttered these words, Manuel

{J^ COMMENTAEIES OF
Pe9anha exclaimed : — " Sir, we cannot consent to your
lordship going to Portugal ; for it is no service to the king to
yield the government of India to Afonso Dalboquerque, for
the reasons that are specified in this requisition. And, in
asmuch as we are all in a state of great concern, it is most
probable that, if your lordship goes, all will have to go in
your company. This I state publicly, for I do not pretend
to anything more here beyond the service due to the king."
So Manuel Pecanha made an end of his arguments, and all
agreed that the Viceroy ought not to go to Portugal, but to
govern India until the King our Lord should be informed
of all this, and ordain what seemed most befitting for his
service. And notwithstanding that there were many per
sons in this council who had uttered evil words against
Afonso Dalboquerque, and signed the requisition, yet when
they went out they became aware of their errors, and sent to
ask his forgiveness ; for they had done this, they said, out
of dread of dishonouring the Viceroy. Yet I cannot admit
this as any excuse for them, seeing that the state of the
king, however far off it may be, should never be a single
hour removed from its obedience to him, and from his dis
posal, even at the cost of life, much less threats and dis
honour. When the Viceroy had arranged this in the manner he
liked best, he gave orders to Antonio de Sintra to draw up
an indictment against Afonso Dalboquerque from these
articles, which were in number ninety-six ; he wrote, too,
to Cogeatar, if he had any complaints to make against
Afonso Dalboquerque, to send some person who should
come and prefer the accusation, for he would see that jus
tice was done. As soon as the indictment had been drawn
up, the Viceroy commanded Antonio de Sintra to keep it in
his possession, and well taken care of until the arrival of
the ships from Portugal, when there would be an opportu
nity of conferring with the chief captain concerning the
best course to be pursued.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 37
But Afonso Dalboquerque became aware of their doings,
and knew that the Viceroy was desirous of ensnaring him in
some difficulties, so in order that they should not lay any
thing to his charge without sufficient reason, he adopted as
a very safe one, the precaution of not venturing out of his
house, and of leading that kind of life which he could most
quietly pass in the service of the king. And I thoroughly
beheve that had he not done so, it would not have been pos
sible to avoid a great revolt in India; but his endurance
was so great, that there was not a single person who heard
him speak ill, or even complain, of those whom he had
reason to reproach, because of their former friendship with
him, for having signed the requisition, nor yet for having
said that he was unable to govern India. And it was well-
kuown after he became captain-goueral, what he did and how
he carried on the government. But it is to be beheved that
a man so honourable and so much a cavalier as the Viceroy
(had he been at that time alive), must have been much
grieved at having given so much dishonour and so many
affronts as he did, by evil counsel, to this great captaiu.

CHAPTER IX.

Of the events which took place after the council, and how the Viceroy
gave orders for the apprehension of Joao de Christus, Friar of the
Order of St. Eloy, and what happened thereupon.
Now that it had been determined by all the fidalgos and
captains that the Viceroy should not go to Portugal, but
remain in the government of India, thenceforth many men
took upon themselves the boldness of showing all the dis
courtesy they could towards Afonso Dalboquerque, with the
object of doing or saying something or other whereby they
could calumniate him. But he saw through the conspiracy
which they had entered upon, to the prejudice of his honour

38 COMMENTAEIES OF
in order to, curry favour with the Viceroy ; and, therefore,
began to withdraw himself from conversation with them.
And when several days had elapsed, during which he had
not gone out of doors, one day, in the morning, he went out
to the shore, accompanied by his servants (for now no one
ventured to be seen in his company) to look at the ship
Girne, which was undergoing repair. And as he passed by
the door of Antonio do Campo's house, Jorge Barreto and
Fero Barreto, who were in the house, came to the window
and began to mock him with disgusting noises, and called
out "Jew!" and "traitor!" But Afonso Dalboquerque
kept on his waj' without replying to them, and after
spending some time on the shore, he returned home by
another way.
Jorge Barreto, Pero Barreto, and Antonio do Campo
were, however, not content with the endurance of Afonso
Dalboquerque, so they all three made their way to the
shore, but by the time they reached it he had already gone
away ; and then they commenced saying that if they had
found him there, they would have broken his head for him ;
for he was, they said, so vain and so ill-bred, that he would
not speak to Jorge Barreto, but had said that it was against
the king's service to speak to him, yet he would be made to
pay for this that he had said. Hereupon, Garcia de Sousa,
who happened to be within hearing of this affair (he was
an honest fidalgo and kept himself aloof from all these dis
turbances), reproved them very strongly for the expressions
which they used, and went straightway to the Viceroy, and
said to him : — " Sir, you have always shown me much re
gard, and bestowed on me great honour, and I shall ever
owe you service for it, as I rightly should ; and not only on
this account, but also because it is proper for your service,
I have to tell you of something which has just taken place
before me on the shore, which does not appear right to me."
And then he related to him all that Jorgo Barreto, Pero

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 39
Barreto, and Antonio do Campo had said to [and about]
Afonso Dalboquerque ; and how Joao da Nova and Antonio
de Sintra were in the habit of passing every night by his
door, singing verses upon him which were very discourteous.
" And when your lordship was in Diu," he added, " Jorge
Barreto ordered thera by night to wound his men ; and
Francisco de Tavora, when a page of Afonso Dalboquerque
passed by him without taking off his cap, took the page
and kicked him frequently, and pulled his hair. And they
do all these things out of an idea that thereby they are
doing you a service, but it may be that your lordship has
no knowledge of it, so I tell you that you may order them
to be very well punished for it."
The Viceroy said that he was very much obliged to him
for this information, and that he did not know of their
deeds, for Afonso Dalboquerque was such a miserable fellow
that there was no one who cared for him, yet he had already
sometimes told Joao da Nova that he was a foolish chat
terer, and that he could not countenance him in such pro
ceedings, but he would soon provide about the matter.
Yet the Viceroy had so little intention of chastising them,
that three days afterwards, when Jorge Barreto was pro
ceeding on horseback to the castle, he came upon Afonso
Dalboquerque's purveyor in the road, and told him to go
back. But when the man would not, alleging that he had
permission from the Viceroy to go thither, he said to him: —
" You goat, will you not do what I command you ?" And
then he got down off his horse, and beat him several times
with a stick, and carried him before him up to the house of
the magistrate (Meirinho), and ordered him to be placed in
gaol. When the Viceroy knew this he ordered the man to
be released ; but yet he did not reprove Jorge Barreto for
what he had done.
And notwithstanding that everybody was iutiinidated,
and did not dare to utter any complaints against the Vice-

40 COMMENTARIES OF*
roy's doings, nevertheless, when some noblemen were
found in the house of Joao de Christus (a brother ofthe
order of Saint Eloi, and of very virtuous life), they were
much surprised that the Viceroy did not reprove him. Joao
de Christus, who was an upright man, remarked: — "I
really believe that India cannot endure long with all this up
roar, for Jorge Barreto, who is the deadly enemy of Afonso
Dalboquerque, assaults his purveyor and gets off without
either punishment or reprehension of it." Diogo Rodriguez,
the scrivener of the ship Flor de la mar, who happened to
be present, heard this, and went to Joao da Nova (thinking
to give him a capital opportunity for exercising his ill-will),
and repeated to him all that Joao de Christus had said.
Immediately thereupon, Joao de Nova made his way to
Jorge Barreto, and then both proceeded to the Viceroy, and
related the matter to him; and began to demonstrate to the
Viceroy that if Joao de Christus on the occasion of Jorge
Barrato cudgelling a villain (even though he were Afonso
Dalboquerque's purveyor), could say that by reason of such
things India would be ruined, this could not be so said
unless the speaker knew for certain that Afonso Dalbo
querque had resolved upon some such act of treason as to
seize the fortress and put Jorge Barreto to death : and
therefore his lordship ought to issue immediate orders for
the apprehension of Joao de Christus, and keep him in irons
until he should confess the truth, for he was very friendly
towards Afonso Dalboquerque, and never went out of doors.
The Viceroy received favourably all this that they said
against Afonso Dalboquerque, and without any further en
quiry into the allegations, but solely on the report of these
men, ordered the immediate arrest of Joao de Christus, and
loaded him with irons, and put him in a cellar in the fort
ress, and allowed no one to have any communication with
him.

AFONSO DALBOQUEllQUl!;. 4]

CHAPTER X.
Plow the great Afonso Dalboquerque, upon hearing of the apprehension
of Joao de Christus, went to speak with the A'iceroy in his behalf :
and how the Viceroy gave orders to take Afonso Dalboquerque and
carry him to Cananor, and raze to the ground the houses wherein
he lived.
As soon as the nevys of the imprisonment of Joao de
Christus was known in Cochim, all gave themselves up for
dead, for they could not divine the reason of his imprison
ment. But Afonso Dalboquerque, who did not know all of
these uproars, proceeded to the Viceroy's, and begged him
very earnestly of his kindness to give orders for the release
of Joao de Christus, for he was so good a man that he could
not believe that there was anything in him for which he
should deserve that imprisonment.
The Viceroy replied very dryly that he should let justice
take her course, for the Vicar-General would take good care
to order his release, provided that in the indictment which
was to be laid against him he should find no cause of blame ;
as for himself he knew nothing about it. Afonso Dalbo
querque replied : — " Sir, I do not understand this justice of
yours, apprehending, indeed, Joao de Christus without any
reason, when he is avery virtuous man, and yet not ordering
the hanging of Domingos Pousado, for I know very well
that he was yesterday caught in the act of stealing two
hundred cruzados, but as he was in Antonio do Campo's
house, nothing is said about him."
The Viceroy could not bear to be spoken to about these
men, so he rejoined that many had complained of him
(Afonso) also for the insults he had visited upon them at
Ormuz, and on the way there; but he had never spoken
about the matter to him, to ask him the reason of such
conduct. Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that all the harm
he had done was to execute justice upon those who deserved

42 COMMENTARIES OP
it, and let him look to his instruction, and therein he would
see that there was no appeal from one appellate jurisdiction
to another, but only to the king, who up to that hour had
delegated that superior power to no one. The Viceroy, who
had now become enraged, answered, that he (Afonso) did
not understand what justice was, nor knew how to exercise
It ; but that he (the Viceroy) understood it, for he was not
so much a Viceroy, but a King, so long as he held that
office, as indeed the traitorous rascal, Gaspar Pereira, could
inform him. Afonso Dalboquerque retorted that he had
reached the age of sixty years, and had lived till then
without the advice of Gaspar Pereira, and how could it be
that he thought he required such advice now more than
ever. But if he, the Viceroy, was what he represented him
self to be, why did he not order him to be hanged, since he
had the power to do it ?
The answer of the Viceroy to this was, that after the
victory which Our Lord had given him over the Rumes, he
had continually dissembled his anger with him, and did not
wish to punish him, but would carry him to Portugal,
where the king would order his execution as a traitor.
When Afonso Dalboquerque perceived that the Viceroy did
not intend to liberate Joao de Christus, he took his leave,
for he did not wish to commit himself in any words with
him, and returned to his house. And so soon as he had
gone, the Viceroy gave orders for placing a strong guard
over the fortress of Cochim, remembering what Jorge Bar
reto' and Joao de Nova had told him, and for issuing several
proclamations to the effect that no one should carry arms
neither by day nor by night, excepting only his servants,
and the captains, and some persons specially licensed to do
so ; and he also ordered the arrest of Gaspar Pereira and
' See the genealogy of Jorge Barreto in the British Museum, Lans-
downe MS. 189, foi. 506, entitled •' Livro das Linhages de Portugal,
ordcnado por Do Antonio dc Lima P[orciJra, anno 1G20".

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 43
Ruy de Araujo, and their solitary confinement, loaded with
irons, in the fortress, and no one to talk with them ; and
he also ordered the houses in which they had lived to be
thrown down, and razed to the ground.
And as the intention of these men was to eject Afonso
Dalboquerque from Cochim, thinking that they could effect
this by means of his confessor, Francisco, a Friar of the
Order of Avis,' they went to him and told him that if he
would say how Afonso Dalboquerque had desired to put
Cogeatar to death, and raise himself up in rebellion at Or
muz, that they on their part would prevail upon the Viceroy
to show him some marks of favour, and give him substan
tial rewards for so doing. Friar Francisco repHed to them
that he knew nothing more of Afonso Dalboquerque than
that he saw how very well he served the king, and captured
towns and places in the kingdom of Ormuz, and he would
say so to the Viceroy, if they liked. So, as they could get
nothing from Friar Francisco to turn to advantage in their
hands, they prevailed on the Viceroy to order the arrest of
Duarte de Sousa,^ who was a fidalgo indeed, but poor, and
had come from Portugal in banishment, accompanying the
fleet of Afonso Dalboquerque, and had remained in his com
pany during the conquest of the kingdom of Ormuz, and
served him so well that Afonso Dalboquerque remitted his
' See vol. i. Introduction, p. vii, note 2.
^ " Duarte de Sousa, filho segundo bastardo do Comendador mor
Gon9allo de Sousa, foi Comendador do Mogadouro da ordem de Chr[is-
t]o, e houve bastardos Ruy de Sousa, Gon^allo de Sousa, Joao de Sousa,
Manoel de Sousa, Cri[stin]a de Sousa, etc. Este Duarte de Sousa pellos
tempos poderia ser aquelle que servio na India em tempo de VizoRey
Dom Francisco de Almeida era que foi Castigado por aconselhar a
A[fons]o de Albuquerque, indo su9eder naquelle Governo, que o tomasse
por forsa contra vontade do dito VizoRey''. — British Museum, Addi
tional MS. 28460, folio 14C6.
"Duarte de Sousa, . . . irniao de Fernao de Sousa, Comendador mor,
. . . houve bastardos Ruy de Sousa, e Goncalo de Sousa, que morrerao na
India Soltcyros," etc.— Bnt. Mus., MS. Lansdowno 189, folio 65/;.

44 COMMENTARIES OF
banishment, and ordered the employment both of him and
of a son he had, at a certain salary. Now since this Duarte
de Sousa lived at Afonso Dalboquerque's table, and served
him, and Joao de Nova never could entice him away from
this allegiance, they imputed to him the design of putting
the Viceroy to death, although he was perfectly innocent of
it, and arrested him, and put him to the rack.'
When Joilo de Nova and Jorge Barreto perceived that
neither by means of Friar Francisco, nor yet by means of
Duarte de Sousa,, they could give effect to the plot they
were embarking in, they entered into a conspiracy with
Antonio do Campo, who was well versed in the language
of Malabar, and concocted a letter from the Prince of Cali
cut to Afonso Dalboquerque, and his reply to him, inserting
in it all the malicious things they required to say, and
managed with great secrecy that the two documents should
fall into the hands of the Viceroy. And the Viceroy, as
soon as he saw the letters, being concerned at what was
therein contained, ordered the arrest of Afonso Dalbo
querque ; and immediately, that very day, he was embarked
on board the vessel of Martin Coelho, who had orders to
carry with him none but three servants for his attendance,
and to deliver him over to Louren9o de Brito, captain of
the fortress, who was to place him in the tower, and keep
a good guard over him.
On the departure of Martin Coelho, the Viceroy gave
orders for throwing down the houses which Afonso Dalbo
querque had occupied, and took out of them everything
that was found there, which produced great consternation
in the king of Cochim and the Naires, for he said that it
was a case of treason, and very necessary for the good of
the king of Portugal's estate that he should punish Afonso
Dalboquerque with rigour. And as by this time Diogo
Lopez de Sequeira was now ready with his fleet to set out
' Dar tratos, literally, to givo (one) a treat.

AFONSO DALnOQUKBQUE. 45
for Malaca, and as Garcia do Sousa was to go in his company
as captain of one of the ships, the Viceroy ordered that
Ruy de Araujo and Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco should be
delivered over to them, to be taken in their charge to
Malaca, and thence to proceed with Diogo Lopez de Se
queira" to Portugal, as they were imphcated in these mat
ters concerning Afonso Dalboquerque.

CHAPTER XI.

ITow D. Fernando Coutinho, Marshal of Portugal, arrived at Cananor,
and carried with him the great Afonso Dalboquerque, to govern
India.
The affairs of India were in the state which I have de
scribed, when the Marshal D. Fernando Coutinho arrived at
Cananor, having set out from the kingdom of Portugal
as chief captain of a fleet of fifteen sail. And in Cananor
the Alarshal, who proceeded to take up his quarters the
' "Diogo Lopez de Sequeyra filho segundo deste Lopo Vaz [deSequeyra]
foy Alcayde Mor do Landroal, e Almota^e Mor (i.e.. Chief Magistrate of
the IVTarkets) d' ElRey Dom Joao o 3°. E foy Governador da India, e
casado coin Dona Maria Freyre, filha de N". Francisco Freyre de Beja,
que elle quizera matar por dizerem fizera adulterio com Christovao Freyre
seu Primo com Irmao quando foy a i* vez a India", etc. — Brit. Mus.,
MS. Lansdowne 189, i". 5886. The following remarkable incident is
related of his voyage in 1518 :— "Na paragem do Cabo da Boa Espe-
ran9a hum peixe deu huma encontrada na na6 de D. Joao de Lima, que
cuidarao alguns no estremecer, que ella fez, que dera em algum penedo,
e acudindo logo ^ boniha, pareoendo, que a nao devia fazer agoa, acharao
que nam fazia mais, que a ordinaria, e dando depois em Cochim pender
3, nao acharamlhe metido no Costado hum focinho de peixe, que seria do
C'omprimento de dous palmos, e meyo agudo na ponta, preto e duro a
Maneira de Corno das alimarias, a que os Gregos ohamam Rhinoceros,
e OS Indios Ganda, somente tinha esta peixe huma differen9a, que a
Crespidam de sua superfioie era fi maneira de groza de ferro tam dura,
que o limava, como faz huma lima de dura tempera." — Biit. Mus.,
Additional MS. 20902, i". 21. The same account is given in other
words in Barretto dc R&scndc's work, the Sloane MS. 197, f°. 15.

46 COMMENTARIES OP
very day he landed with Louren9o de Brito, found the great
Afonso Dalboquerque, who had already been confined there
for three months by order of the Viceroy.
Afonso Dalboquerque was much pleased at the arrival of
the Marshal, for besides that he was his nephew, he felt
certain that on his coming the dissensions which had arisen
between himself and the Viceroy would come to an end, and
he recounted to him all the insults that had been shown to
him, and all the rest that had happened to him. The Mar
shal, because his time was short, in which to perform what
had been appointed for him to do before his departure for
Portugal, was unwilling to be delayed, and proceeded to
embark on the following morning, taking with him Afonso
Dalboquerque, in obedience to his commands, as Captain-
general of India; for it was to Afonso Dalboquerque, as
his governor of India, that the King D. Manuel had ordered
the Marshal to deliver all the provisions and specie which
he carried. And the Marshal told Louren9o de Brito, that
he, for his part, could not perceive where the faults of
Afonso Dalboquerque lay, for the Viceroy to be obliged to
arrest him, and to refuse to deliver up the government of
India to him.
Lourenco de Brito replied that all he knew about it was,
that the Viceroy had sent him to be kept in custody, and to
be carefully guarded, and if the Viceroy had done thereby
anything which he should not have done, the king must
take account of this from him. When this conversation was
at an end, the Marshal took his leave of Lourenco de Brito,
and set out and reached Cochim on the twenty-ninth day of
October ; and on his arrival the Viceroy commanded
Antonio de Sintra to pay him a visit-. And this Antonio,
as soon as he boarded the vessel and beheld Afonso Dalbo
querque, became quite beside himself with astonishment.
But after paying the visit to the Marshal, he began talking
about other matters, and said unadvisedly to Afonso Dal-

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 47
boquerque, that the Viceroy had now become aware that
the letter alleged to have been written by him to the Priuce
of Calicut was a forgery. He (Afonso) was unwilling to
reply to him, for he well knew that Antonio de Sintra had
been a party to this fraud.
Then Antonio de Sintra took his leave of the Marshal, and
returned with a message for the Viceroy. But the captains
and fidalgos, who had signed the requisition, so soon as they
were informed that the Marshal brought with him Afonso
Dalboquerque, and obeyed him as Captain-general of India,
became beside themselves, and kuew not how to make up
their minds for any further action. Nevertheless, Afonso
Dalboquerque, with his accustomed inviolable serenity and
frankness of spirit forgave them, as will be shown further
on. And on the following morning both (the Marshal and
Afonso Dalboquerque) disembarked, and the Viceroy came
down to the shore to receive them, accompanied by all
those who were of his party; for the whole of the other
party were unwilling to accompany him. And in this man
ner all proceeded to the church, and when the service was
over, the Viceroy retired to the fortress, and the Marshal
and Afonso Dalboquerque to the houses which had been
appointed for their occupation. And on that very night there
arrived Lourenco de Brito in a caravela} making thisjourney
to visit ihe Viceroy, to know how the Marshal would manage
with him, and also to arrange for his voyage, for he was
determined to go with him back to Portugal, and not re
main in India with Afonso Dalboquerque.
And it was on a Saturday morning, the fourth day of
November, that the Marshal went to the fortress to pay a
visit to the Viceroy, and had a long conversation with him
on many subjects in relation to the dissensions that he had
with Afonso Dalboquerque ; and tried all in his power to
reconcile them again, but he could never prevail upon
' See vol. i, page 4, note .S.

48 COMMENTARIES OP
Afonso Dalboquerque to let him effect his purpose. And
although the Viceroy held a power from the king to retain
the government of India until his departure, yet when he
observed the uproars that the people made, he surrendered
the government of India to. Afonso Dalboquerque in order
that he should not be troubled with any ill messages, and
to avoid having any further annoyance about him. And
then he embarked on the Sunday following, which was the
fifth day of the month of November, and there he remained
on board, arranging for his departure until the tenth day of
the same month, when he left for Cananor, in the ship
GarQa (i.e. Heron), wherein he intended to make the voy
age to Portugal, telling the captains who were to convoy
him to proceed at once to follow him up closely, for it was
his intention to make the journey from Cananor.
Thereupon Jorge de Melo Pereira, captain of the ship
Betlem (i.e. Bethlehem), on hearing this order of the Vice
roy, went to the Marshal and told him that he could not,
for anything in the world, go in the company of the Vice
roy, who was ill disposed towards him, and had had him in
custody, since he feared that he would maltreat him on the
way, and therefore he would much prefer to wait and go
with him (the M-arshal). The Marshal went to the Viceroy,
and informed him of the demur which Jorge de Melo made
to going in his company, and begged him graciously to
forget and forgive past matters, and to be pleased to take
him with him, for he would be a good companion ; and so
indeed it turned out, for at the watering-place of Saldanha,
where the Viceroy was murdered,^ there was not a relative
nor a friend who behaved with greater kindness to him than
did Jorge de Melo. The Viceroy took with him Jorge Bar
reto, Antonio do Campo, and Manuel Telez, and many other
men of noble rank, whom they induced to go by putting
them in great dread of remaining behind with Afouso Dal-
' See vol. i, page 33, note 2.

Brit, Mus., Sloane MS. 197, folio 9.
p. Barreto oe Resende's Portrait or
D. Francis co 0«lm eioa .

APONSO DALDOQUKItQUE. 49
boquerque. There is much that I could write about this;
but, in order to avoid scandalising the living, I will be
silent about what I know concerning the dead. And Joao
da Nova, who was the one who walked in these disturbances
with Jorge Barreto, died at Cochim in the month of July in
the year 'nine, so reduced in circumstances that he had no
one to care for him ; but Afonso Dalboquerque forgot all
that he had been guilty of towards him, and only held in
memory that this man had been his companion in arms, and
had helped him in all the troubles connected with the con
quest of the kingdom of Ormuz like a cavalier, and ordered
him to be buried at his expense, with the usual display of
torches, and himself accompanied the body to the grave,
clad all in mourning, a thing the Viceroy would not have
done. These are the rewards which the world gives to him
who does not do what he ought to do.
As soon as the Viceroy had sailed for Cananor, the King
of Cochim came to pay a visit to Afonso Dalboquerque and
to the Marshal ; and when the formalities of the visit had
passed, the Marshal said to the King, that he begged his
royal Lordship very earnestly to command his ofiicers to get
ready fifteen thousand quintals of pepper which were re
quired for loading the cargoes of the ships, for the Viceroy
had told him that he could load them all with pepper for
them if he pleased. The King said that he would have been
very happy to serve him if he could, but it was impossible
for him to have so much pepper, because in the year just
passed there had been so slack a guard kept on that coast,
that six vessels of Calicut had sailed, loaded with pepper,
for the Straits of Meca ;^ and other ships, which took in
the same cargo in Coulao and Caecoulao,^ had sailed for
^ See vol. i, page 58, note 1 ; and the " Portus da mequa" on the map
in vol. i, at page 80.
2 Caecoulao is the Calecoulan of Pedro Berthelot's chart, MS. Sloane
197, fo. 164 ; and the Kayan Koulam of modern maps of India, in Tra-

50 COMMENTAEIES OP
Choramandel. And this, he averred, was the truthful reason
why he had no old pepper. And he added that it was not
right for Andr^ Diaz and Antonio de Sintra to tell him (the
Marshal), on the part of the Viceroy, in the presence of
many persons, that he was unwilling to forward pepper to
the factory because Afonso Dalboquerque had given him a
hundred cruzados by way of a bribe, threatening him that
unless the pepper were at once forthcoming, another king
would be set up in his place, who was the friend of the
gamorim, and would make peace with him. And that he
(the King) could not believe him to be capable of such an
action as this piece of villainy which the Viceroy had
threatened to do if the ships were not laden, and that
quickly ; for, apart from the service he would be doing to
the King his brother, it was not likely that he would care
to lose six thousand cruzados, which would come to him as
dues out of the transaction, for the sake of a hundred
cruzados of bribe which Afonso Dalboquerque was stated to
have given him.
The Marshal told him not to be dismayed, for this was a
way of speaking which the oflBcers affected, but the Viceroy
ought not to send such messages as that he complained of,
for all of them were his vassals, and the King his lord had
ordered them all to obey him. At this reply of the Marshal
the King of Cochim was quite contented, and took leave of
him, and of Afonso Dalboquerque, undertaking on his part
to spare no trouble in forwarding all the pepper there could
be found to the scales.
vancore, Madras Presidency, 9 deg. 10 min. N., 76 deg. 31 min. E., on
the coast a little to the north of Coulao, Quilon, or CoUum.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 51

CHAPTER XII.
How the Marshal told the great Afonso Dalboquerque that the King
D. Manuel gave orders for the destruction of the City of Calicut,
and of what passed in this matter.
When this interview which the Marshal held with the
King of Cochim had come to an end, because his object
was to destroy Calicut before he set out for Portugal, in
order not to lose any time on the following day, he sum
moned to his house Gaspar Pereira, Secretary of India, and
told him privately that the King had trusted greatly in him,
and ordered him in his instructions to destroy Calicut
before his departure, if it should seem good to Afonso
Dalboquerque, and therefore he begged him graciously to
be minded to help him in the matter (for if this project were
to fail, he would not have come to India on any account,
seeing that his ancestors were never mere merchants), and
that up to this time Afonso Dalboquerque had not men
tioned the matter to any one, although Manuel Pecanha, if
the reports that were in circulation at Cochim were true,
had attempted to sound him on the subject very often, mak
ing light of the matter. And he added that he, Gaspar,
must obtain knowledge of Afonso Dalboquerque's opinion ;
and if he should appear to have doubts, he must remove
them, for there were some persons who would make him
believe that Afonso Dalboquerque would disapprove of the
plan. Gaspar Pereira told him that it could not be that there
would be any opposition, for he, Afonso, had always evinced
a hearty good will towards the destruction of Calicut, and
he was sure Afonso Dalboquerque would reward him for the
intelhgence when he announced it, and therefore he would
uot shrink from mentioning the matter to him, and for his
part he would do all he could to be of use in every way ;

52 COMMENTAEIES OP
yet, he said, he would beg him earnestly to proceed cau
tiously and slowly in the affair, taking advice from all
persons who had any good understanding of it, for it was
not such a light thing as Manuel Pecanha would have them
to suppose. When this interview was over, Gaspar Pereira
made his way to Afonso Dalboquerque's house, and re
counted to him what had passed between himself and the
Marshal; and, as Afonso Dalboquerque was anxious to
gratify the Marshal in all things, one day, when he was in
his house, and Gaspar Pereira present before them, he told
him (being anxious to remove from the Marshal's mind
that suspicion he had of his aversion to the enterprise) that
he was there ready to obey him, and with regard to the
Calicut business he had nothing to say against it ; for, from
the first occasion of his coming to India, he had become so
wearied with the Qamorim,' that there was nothing he would
undertake with greater pleasure than the destruction of
Calicut ; that this is what he must believe of him, and not
what the reports said of him .
The Marshal replied, that since he was agreed to do him
that favour, it must be done forthwith, for it was now the
beginning of December, and it was necessary that some
time should remain, when the business was over, for load
ing the ships, because the King D. Manuel had ordered him
in his instructions to effect the destruction of Calicut before
his departure. Afonso Dalboquerque said there was no
need of instructions in this case, for it was sufficient for him
that it was the desire of the Marshal, and much more was
he willing to enter upon it as the King had written to him
respecting it ; but it would be as well, he said, that an
account of the proposed operations should be laid privately
before certain people before it was laid openly before the
consideration of all. The Marshal quite agreed with this
proposal, and they consulted with Manuel Peganha, and
' See vol. i, page 1.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 53
with others, and all passed a favourable opinion concern
ing it.
Having thus arranged the preliminaries, in order to pro
ceed more cautiously and artfully in the matter, Afonso
Dalboquerque gave orders to Lionel Coutinho and to Bras
Teixeira, who were just ready with two ships to go to
Baticala^ to bring cloves for the ships' cargoes, to make
their way to Onor,^ and announce to Timoja that he, Afonso,
was getting himself ready with the Indian fleet, and with
merchant vessels, to fall upon Goa, before they went off to
Portugal ; and that he would ask him for permission to be
granted for Lionel Coutinho to enter the river in order to
ascertain its depth; and that if he, Timoja, were able to
come to Cochim to consult with the Marshal, so much the
better, but if not, at any rate he was to hold himself in
readiness to be with him in that expedition.
Then the two captains set sail, and Lionel Coutinho had
audience with Timoja, and delivered the message he had
received. Timoja replied that he should assure the captain-
general that he was not prepared just then to make a journey
to Cochim ; and that, as for the river of Goa, there was no
need for any one to see it, for he himself had seen it, and
that was sufficient, and that Goa was alone without any
garrison, and all the inhabitants in dreadful apprehension
of the Portuguese ; and that he, the Marshal, could take
the city into his own hands whenever he liked to come; and
that he himself would be in readiness with his men to co
operate with him in the affair ; and he added that the Vice
roy had put many affronts upon him, but he lived in hopes
that the time would come when he could ask Afonso Dalbo
querque to remove them, for he had always been a loyal
servant of the King of Portugal, and in so serving him had
received many losses, and never any satisfaction for them.
1 Batical4, a fortress on the coast of Malabar, about thirty leagues
from Goa.— C«fl(. Lus., index. ^ See vol. i, page 148, note 1,

54 COMMENTARIES OP

CHAPTEE XIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal gave the King of
Cochim an account of their intended expedition to CaUcut ; and of
the council they held with the Captains thereupon.
Two days after the departure of the captains, the great
Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal paid a visit to the
King of Cochim and gave him an account of this their de
termination, and told him how the King D. Manuel had
ordered the destruction of Calicut. And they desired him
earnestly that he would be willing to go in person with his
army to help them in this enterprise, and attack someplace
in the interior, where the (yamorin would be forced to go to.
the rescue. But if he could not so go, at least he should
write to some lord of the mountainous country, who was on
amicable terms with him, to carry out such a manoeuvre. And
because they had no certain information of the internal con
dition of Calicut, after that it was currently reported in
Cochim that an expedition was being got ready against the
city, they begged him greatly of his favour to despatch cer
tain Brahmins secretly to find out where the ^amorin was,
and what sort of army he had, and if he had made any pre
paration of defence near the landing-place.
The King lauded very highly the determination at which
the captains had arrived, for all the dissensions that existed
between himself and the Qamorin were owing to the great
friendship which he showed towards the King of Portugal.
And he said he would forthwith send and find out the con
dition that everything was in. But as for going himself,
they ought not to ask that of him, for Gaspar da India
knew very well that he went there for four or five months
every year, and hereby expended all the revenues which he
obtained from Cochim, and that the waters were still very
extensive, and the rivers could not be passed, but noverthe-

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 55
less he would write to certain lords, his vassals and friends,
to commence the war in the interior frontier country.
Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal were convinced
by the arguments of the king, and begged him to supply
them with twenty pamos, to be used in disembarking the
soldiers. The King gave them with good will, and also
offered them many catures^ and men if they were required,
and then took his leave of them, and went to his own house,
and wrote immediately to certain lords of the mountainous
country recounting to them the determination at which all
had arrived ; and he ordered also two Brahmins, honour
able men, in whom he reposed great confidence, to proceed
to Calicut and obtain information of the state of the city,
and the extent of its army. These Brahmins, by reason of
their religious profession, can go through all these parts,
from one kingdom to another, without anyone demanding
of them whence they come, or what they want.
And when the King had gone back to his house, Afonso
Dalboquerque summoned all tlie captains and the fidalgos
that there were in the fleet, in order to give them an ac
count of this business. These were the following : D.
Antonio da Noronha, Lionel Coutinho, Manuel Pe9anha,
Pedrafonso de Aguiar, Ruy Freire, Gomez Freire, Francisco
de Sousa Mancias, Jorge da Cunha, Francisco de Sa, Fran
cisco Corvinel, Fernao Perez de Andrade, Simao de An
drade (his brother), Jorge da Silveira, Manuel de Laoerda,
Bastiao de Miranda, Antonio da Costa, Duarte de Melo,
Francisco Pereira Coutinho, Simao Martinz, Goncalo Dal
meida, Gaspar da India who was the Interpreter, and Gas
par Pereira the Secretary.^
' Catur, a sort of small man-of-war. — Vieyra.
2 Several of these captains had come in the fleet of fifteen sail, with
Dom Fernando Coutinho the Marshal, from Portugal in this year 1509,
as may be gathered from the following passage iu a manuscript already
quoted, which also relates in brief terms the principal exploits of the
Marshal, and the manner of his death : —

56 COMMENTARIES OV
And when all had assembled together, before entering
into the debate, the Marshal drew himself apart with
Afonso Dalboquerque, and in the presence of Gaspar
Pereira told him that the King, his lord, had ordered in the
instructions that the affair at Calicut was to be carried out,
provided that he, Afonso, approved of the design (as he
had indeed already intimated to him); and therefore he
" Anno de 1509. Dom Fernando Coutinho, mari9hal de Portugal,
Capitao moor de quinze naos, partio a doze de Mar(;o : Capitaes Fran
cisco de Sa, Bastiao de Souza d' Elvas, Leonel Coutinho, Ruy Freire,
Jorge da Cunha, Francisco de Sousa Mancias, Rodrigo Rabello de Cas-
tello branco ; Braz Teixeira, Jorge Lopes Bixorda Armador, Francisco
Coruinel armador, Fernao Juzarte, Gomez Freire, Francisco Marecos
que sb nao pasou h India.
" 15 Vellas a 12 de Mar^o, em que levou tres mil homens.
" Nestas nads foy ordem a Affonso de Albuquerque para goveruar a
India. " Francisco de SS, era Vedor da Fazenda do Porto. Lionel Coutinho
era filho de Vasco Fernandez Coutinho, e foy na na6 Flor de Rosa. Ruy
I'rcire era filho de Nuno Fernandez Freire, e foy na na6 Garga. Jorge da
Cunha na na6 Magdalena. Rodrigo Rabello de Castelbranco na na6 Sta.
Clara. Bras Teixeira na Ferroa. Francisco Marecos em S. Francisco.
Jorge Lopes Bixordo Armador na sua nad. Francisco Corvinel armador
na sua na6, etc.
" Successo. De todas estes quinze na^s somente a de Francisco Mare
cos nam passou S, India.
" O Marichal meteo de posse do governo da India a Affon90 de Albu
querque, e Dom Francisco de Almeida se embarcou para o Reino por
asy o mandar Sua Alteza.
" Depois de partido o Visorey para o Rei'>o forao o gouernador e
Marichal co toda a armada sobre Calicut onde desembarcarao, e tendo
destrojda e saqueada a Cidade foy morto o Mari9hal, e mintos Capitaes
e soldados. " No fim deste anno entregou o V. Rey a governanga Affongo de Al
buquerque, E se veyo para o Reino co tres Naos, e foy morto pellos
Cafres, na aguada do Saldanha, este Visorey tomou por forfa de Armas
duas Cidades populosas na India, fez tres Keys tributaries a Coroa de
Portugal, e fez as primeiras quatro fortalezas de Pedra e cal, que os
Portugueses teverao na India, Venjeo os Turcos de Soldao sobre a Cidade
de l)yo e desbaratou a sua Armada : foy muy valeroso, Inteiro na Justija,
desprezador da fazenda e zelloso do Servigo de seu Rey." — Brit. Mus.,
Add. MS. 20902, fo. 12.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 57
begged him, before he entered into the debate, of his gra
ciousness to settle beforehand, between the two of them,
what was the most proper course to pursue, so as not to go
running any hazard at the caprice of four young captains
who did not understand how to carry on a war.
Afonso Dalboquerque, in consideration of what had already
taken place with the Marshal, told him that if he said this
because he thought that he, Afonso, repented of what he
had promised, as Manuel Pe(janha had persuaded him to
think, he must not believe it, for he had never refused to
fight, much more was he desirous of fighting since he had
two thousand Portuguese soldiers, a number sufficient to
conquer the world, not to mention the Qamorin, whom in
deed he was anxious to see overthrown. But, he added, so
important an affair as this is, in which all the captains are
going to adventure their persons, ought not to be under
taken without giving them an account of it, and it was for
this reason that he had been induced to give orders for
their assembling.
It appeared to the Marshal, by that which Afonso Dalbo
querque said, that his whole mind was set upon thwarting
this business, with the intent of not carrying it out, so he
said that he considered it quite proper that an account of the
proposed expedition should be laid before the captains, but
it must be with the full understanding that, even if they
thought it unadvisable, yet, for all that, the attack on Cali
cut should be made; for he had been informed that some
persons were going about saying that it was against their
duty to the King to undertake the business. Afonso Dal
boquerque replied that, in matters of such importance,
wherein many inconveniences might arise, it did not appear
right to proceed to predetermination before careful con
sideration, but rather to discuss the matter, and to settle it
to the satisfaction of all those who were to be employed in
its performance ; but, as for himself, he was so thoroughly

58 COMMENTARIES OP
convinced about it that no one could persuade him to the
contrary. And while they were thus discussing, the King of Cochim
arrived, bringing with him the Brahmins whom he had sent
as spies to Calicut ; and these men stated that the King had
gone into the interior country to a war which was raging
there, but in the city itself there were few Naires, and on
the Gerame, or jetty, they had made some wooden stages on
which were placed six large bombards, and along the beach
many holes had been dug, in order that the men as they
landed should fall into them, and that on the side of the
houses of the Macuas^ there was not a single breastwork.
And, owing to the delay caused by the arrival of the King,
there was no time to relate the plan to the captains ; so,
after receiving all this information, Afonso Dalboquerque
summoned them all to meet again on the following morn
ing ; and, when they had all assembled together, the
Marshal told them that the King D. Manuel, their lord, had
commanded him, in the instructions given to him, to de
stroy Calicut, and to embark in the undertaking, with the
counsel and approbation of the Captain-General of India,
who was there present. And, he added, according to news
that had reached them, they understood that very, few sol
diers were left in Calicut, and all the people were paralysed
with fear at the news which had reached them of his expe
dition against them. And since the gamorim had gone into
' Macuas; Bluteau says :— " He o nome de certa gente da India, nas
prayas do Reyno de Travancor, desde a fortaleza de Coulao, atfe o Cabo
de Comorim. Toda ella he Christaa, convertida pellos Missionaries da
Companhia, desde o tempo de S. Francisco Xavier ; aos quaes tem os
Reys Gentios dado todo o poder sobre as sens Christaos, de sorte que
elles sentenceao suas demandas, & julgao suas causas sem o Rey se entre-
meter nem no crime, nem no civil. Por todas aquellas prayas se vem
Igrejas do verdadeiro Deos, & pela terra dentro ficao outras. (Viagem
de Godinho, 171.)" Bluteau translates the word Macuaria, which occurs
in Barros, as " a habitation of fishermen". Cf. Matsya, Arab. "fish".

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 59
the interior country, as was reported, he did not think that
there were any serious obstacles in the way of attacking
Calicut, and so he proceeded with his remarks, all directed
towards the point in view.
When the Marshal had made an end of opening the
matter in hand, various opinions were delivered in the
Council; for Pedrafonso Daguiar, Lionel Coutinho, and Ruy
Freire, and some others with them, considered that it was
not advantageous to attack Calicut without its first of all
being well spied, and without having better information of the
state of affairs there than that which the Brahmins rendered.
The Marshal was annoyed at this ; and said to them that
what they said seemed to be excuses of men who had not
made up their minds, for the business they had iu hand was
one which admitted of no temporising,-'^ if they really in
tended to carry it through. For, if the Qamorim with all
his forces once came to the relief of Calicut, there would be
no resisting him. And, as the rest of the captains were
well content that Calicut should be attacked, Afonso Dal
boquerque commanded everyone to be ready with all his
people to set out on the last day of the month of De
cember. And when all the people were embarked, because already
some rumours of this expedition had reached the ears of
those in Calicut, in order to get more precise information
thereof, the governors of the land had sent to beg a peace,
dissemblingly, with Afonso Dalboquerque, by the aid of a
Moor whose name was Cogebequi, who had always hitherto
been on our side. And when he was now ready to embark,
he ordered the Moor to go to his ship, for he would give
him an answer there. He did this because the Moor could
' Que aquelle negocia, pera se fazer, avia de ser assoprar e comer ;
a phrase literally meaning "that that business, in order to perform it,
had to be blown upon before it could be oaten, like very hot food which
one has to eat up at once".

60 COMMENTARIES OP
not then advise the governors on land of the determined at
titude of the Portuguese ; and when once the Moor was on
board he was kept under guard ; and after the Cahcut
business was over, Afonso Dalboquerque let him go to his
own home again.

CHAPTER XIV.

How, when the great Afonso Dalboquerque was ready to set out, Vasco
da Silveira arrived from Cocotora with a message from Duarte de
Lemos, begging him to send ships and men ; and what took place
thereupon.
At the very moment that the fleet was ready to set out,
and the greater part of the men on board, Vasco da Silveira
arrived, coming from Qocotora in a vessel, to beg Afonso
Dalboquerque, on the part of Duarte de Lemos, who had
gone as chief captain on the Coast of Arabia, that lie would
send him some ships, for those he had were so decayed that
he feared he should be unable to carry out his instructions
with them only. And, as soon as Vasco da Silveira had
arrived, he proceeded to Afonso Dalboquerque, and told
him how Duarte de Lemos found himself in great need of
ships, for two of his squadron had gone to the bottom with
old age, and the others he had left were so completely eaten
through that they would not float, and how he desired that
some relief might be afforded to him in this respect before
the departure of the fleet.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that he was now so pressed
on all sides, that he had not time to put even his own shirt
on ; and even if he were willing to send him any help, there
were no ships in readiness that he could send him, for all
had been put out of order in the expedition made by the
Viceroy against the Rumes,^ and he had never had any op-
' " The Turks of Romania . . . pretended to be descendants of the
Roman conquerors, and obtained from the Indians the name of Rumes

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. fll
portunity of ordering their repair; but if it should please
God to deliver him in the present enterprise he would theu
do what was asked of him. The reply of Vasco da Silveira
to this was, that already in the year last passed, Duarte de
Lemos had sent to the Viceroy begging of him two galleys
and three ships that the King D. Manuel had by writing
instructed him to deliver to Jorge de Aguiar, his uncle, to
go in his company to the Cape of Guardafum and the Coast
of Arabia, but he had not sent them to him, giving as an
excuse that he was about to follow up the Rumes and could
not therefore break up his fleet ; and that since the Go
vernors of India were unwilling to carry out the orders of the
King, he would draw up a report to this effect and return
to Qocotora, where Duarte de Lemos was stationed.
At this, Afonso Dalboquerque began to get into such a
passion with Vasco da Silveira that the Marshal, who was
witness to it, thought it best to take him away to his own
house, for he was a very intimate friend of his father, and
told him that he hoped he would not be annoyed, but the
fact was he had come just at a time when they could hot
possibly carry out the one thing as well as the other, and
that the needs of India were so great that there was no
possible means left in her to carry out everything which
the King wished to see done. But he promised him that
as soon as the affair of Calicut was over, he would take care
to give him some very material assistance. Vasco da Sil
veira became very much pleased at the words of the Mar
shal, and got the better of the passion he had been in, and
offered himself to go in the Marshal's company in the pro
jected expedition.
Now Bastiao de Miranda, Fernao Perez de Andrade, and
Simao de Andrade, his brother, were in dread lest Afonso
Dalboquerque should treat them badly because they had
or Romans."— Note to Mickle's Lusiad, bk. 10. " Rumes Que trazido
de Roma o nome tem." — Cam. Lus., x, 63.

62 COMMENTAEIES OP
been opposed to him in his dissensions with the Viceroy ;
so when they became aware of the coming of Vasco da
Silveira and of the object of his visit, they earnestly desired
him to take them with him and get permission for them to
accompany him. But when Afonso Dalboquerque heard of
this, with his rare greatness of mind, he took no notice of
their former conduct, but ordered them before him, and in
the presence of some of the captains, he said to them that
he was very desirous that they should not think that he
owed them any ill-will on account of their having signed the
remonstrance that was made to the Viceroy, nor for their
having said some things in contempt for his person, because
he knew very well that, as time and things were going then,
they had been compelled to such a course of action. But
they might now feel sure that he had quite forgotten all
that had passed on that occasion. And he would beg them
to serve the King well, and without any embarrassment
tell him anything that they might think advantageous to
the service of His Highness, for in the King's name he
would always be thankful to them for such advice. And,
he said, he would swear to them by the Holy Gospels, on
which he placed his hands, that this was so, and that he
spoke without any reservation. The captains told him in
reply that it was quite true they had signed the remon
strance made to the Viceroy, because JoSo da Nova and
Jorge Barreto had deceived them, but as for having said
anything against him personally, there was no one who
could think of doing such a thing, and from that time hence
forth they would serve the King in the manner they were
desired to do.
And because Vasco da Silveira died in Calicut with the
Marshal (as will be related further on), directly that Afonso
Dalboquerque returned to Cochim, after completing the
attack upon Calicut, he sent Diogo Correa in the same ship
which Vasco da Silveira had come in, laden with provisions

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 63
and stores for the fortress of ^ocotora. And when Diogo
Correa arrived there he recounted to Duarte de Lemos, who
had only a few days before returned from Quiloa, the havoc
that had taken place at Calicut, and the death of the Mar
shal, and of Vasco da Silveira his nephew, with many other
fidalgos who there came to their end, and that on this account
Afonso Dalboquerque could not send him ships nor galleys,
for all had been routed, and there was need of time for
repairs. But that a very large fleet was being made ready,
to come and unite with him in the following summer, and
then both should enter the Straits of the Red Sea, in accord
ance with the orders of the King D. Manuel, provided that
the affairs of India would permit. Duarte de Lemos was not
well pleased with this reply to his message, and very angry
at the death of his nephew Vasco da Silveira ; he therefore
committed the captaincy of the fortress to Pero Ferreira,
as the King had provided, and gave D. Afonso a ship in
which to make his way to India, while he himself returned
to pass the winter at Melinde.

CHAPTER XV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the Marshal set out for Calicut
with their fleet: and of the council which they held respecting their
disembarkation, and further proceedings.
When all the people of the fleet were gathered together
—a fleet of twenty ships of war all told, besides pardos
which were taken for use in disembarking, carrying two
thousand Portuguese— they set out from Cochim on the last
day of the month of December; and on the third day of
January came to an anchorage in front of the port of Cali
cut. And, on their arrival, Afonso Dalboquerque with all
the captains went on board the Marshal's ship and stayed to
discuss the method to be pursued in landing the troops ;

64 COMMENTARIES OP
and when they had inspected the position and the nature of
the sea, it was considered best to land in front of the
houses of the Macuas} for there the water was smoothest,
and all could land with least trouble.
When this agreement had been arrived at, the Marshal
declared he suspected, among so many captains and young
men whom the fleet contained, there might be some one
who imagined he would acquire honour in being the first to
set foot on land [before he himself should do so], but he
would swear to such an one, were he a captain or any one
in his fleet, he would order his head to be struck off, but if
such an one should be of the people of India and the Captain-
General would not give a similar order, he would never speak
to him again ; and he said he would desire them earnestly
not to disembark on the land before he himself should, but
allow the boats to reach all together at the same time. And,
because all his captains were not present there, he wrote to
each one of them his written instructions with regard to the
flan of action that had been determined ; that they were
not to plunder the city, nor set fire to it without his per
mission. And on the following day, which was the fourth of the
month of January, all went into the boats, and proceeded
together to strike the land. But, because the current was
running very strongly, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered the
men in his boat to urge on their oars in order not "to be
taken with the current. And in front of him went Vasco
da Silveira in one -pardo and Rodrigo Rabelo^ in another ;
and in this order they reached the shore, and disembarked
without gaining the spot which had been chosen beforehand
for the landing. Afonso Dalboquerque, who was lying to
on his oars within sight of shore, on the look out for the
Marshal's disembarkation ( — the current of the tide had
' See page 58, note.
' See page 56, note.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 65
carried the Marshal further down where the sea broke very
roughly — ) as soon as he saw the men on land, and that
they were beginning to march in a stragghng hne, he himself
landed and ran along the shore to restrain them from start
ing off until the arrival of the Marshal, who had indeed by
this time already landed. And whereas the men were in
high spirits and eager to attack the Gerame} or jetty,
where the Moors had their stockades fortified with artillery,
he could not keep them in check; but, when he beheld
them marching along in such a disordered manner, without
a captain, he went on behind them at a good pace, and with
some, whom he took with him, arrived in the van of the
men, who were already engaged in a combat with the Moors
with lances ; and they altogether pressed upon them so that
they carried the stockades by force and put many Moors to
death, while others fled to the city, and they also captured
six large bombards which had been placed there.
Only two of our men were killed, and at this juncture came
the Marshal with his men up along the shore, very tired,
for they had landed far off, and could not bear the weight of
their arms, by reason of the great heat. And as they thus
arrived, a man-at-arms went up to him and told him to go
on leisurely, for the Gerame was already captured. This
¦news very much enraged the Marshal, and he allowed many
words to fall from his lips, which I raust omit. Afonso
Dalboquerque quitted the Gerame, and proceeded along the
beach in search of the Marshal, and he, when he caught
sight of him, began to shout, and cried out that he had
quite expected they would not keep all together in good
and close order, and that the weakest always went in front.
Afonso Dalboquerque answered him not a word of reproach,
but commenced to explain the reason of his actions, saying
how he had waited for him for hours without disembarking,
in order to carry out the promises he had made, until at
' See vol. i, page 115, note.

66 COMMENTAEIES OP
last the men he had with him began to straggle, and Vasco
da Silveira, his servant, had been the first to land ; but
he, Afonso, when he beheld the men marching without a
captain, in order that they should not rush on their destruc
tion, himself had disembarked to take the command of
them, and the honour they had gained was all his own, for
every one in the affair marched under his flag.
Without saying a word, the Marshal went on as he was,
being in a great rage, and on reaching the Gerame, wished
to march on at once straight upon the city. Then Afonso
Dalboquerque told him that it would be best to rest the
men there where they were for awhile, and after they had
taken some little rest, that then they should proceed on the
the march towards the city, burn the ships, and carry out
whatever other plans should seem best to him. But the
Marshal's mind was filled with distrust, and he replied to
Afonso Dalboquerque in a very passionate manner : — " I
know very well what this is that you want, that I am not
to stir from here ; but I mean to go on to the houses of the
Qamorim, and destroy Calicut, before I take anything to
eat, and let him who will go with mfe, go ; and let him who
will not, stay behind". And being seized with an unfor
tunate temerity of mind, he called out to Gaspar da India,
and told him to lead the way, and take him to the king's
palace.' When Afonso Dalboquerque saw that the Marshal was of
that determination, he told him that his reason for saying
so was that it was excessively hot, the men were very tired
and in want of food, the palace was a long way off, and he
did not know how they would be able to reach so far ; yet,
if, in spite of all these reasons, he would go, he himself would
not be one of the last of the party.
' E 0 levasse aos pagos do Rey ; in some places pagos is used as equiva
lent to passes, roads or passes ; but here, and often elsewhere, the word
pago, in its plural form pagos, is taken to signify a paiaco.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. (57
The Marshal answered nothing, but began to march on,
with his flag unfurled before him ; and Afonso Dalboquer
que, although he was miich opposed to this obstinate in
tention of the Marshal, followed him according to the pro
mise he had made at first setting out. And as this was
where the palisades begin, he gave word to D. Antonio de
Noronha, his nephew, and to Rodrigo Rabelo, to take three
hundred men and go and set fire to the ships, and to return
to the same spot when they were burnt and remain drawn
up in battle array with the men ready to assist wherever
they should see any disorder.

CHAPTER XVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the iWarshal entered the City
of Calicut, and proceeded to the Camorim's houses, and our men
were routed, and the Marshal killed, and further proceedings.
As soon as the Marshal, who was in the vanguard, had
begun to force his way into the city, marching on towards
the palace of the Qamorim, there came against him twenty
or thirty Naires, armed with swords and shields, shouting
aloud in their accustomed manner. When he caught sight
of them coming against him he began to chuckle, and said
to Gaspar Pereira who was close beside him : — " Is this your
Calicut, that .you terrify us all with in Portugal?" Gaspar
Pereira replied that he would think differently before long ;
for he would wager that, if they could that day penetrate to
the houses ofthe Qamorim, these naked little blacks would
give them trouble enough. The Marshal rephed :— " This is
not the kind of people who will give me any trouble ;" and,
arriving at a mosque which stood at the entrance of the city,
he commanded that it should be set on fire; but when he
came close up to it he had already become so tired that it

68 COMMENTARIES OP
was necessary to help him along by two men taking him
under the arras.
When our men found that they met with none to resist
their entry into the cityi they turned their attention to pil
laging. But the Marshal, with those who remained with
him, arrived at the palace, and immediately attacked a body
of two hundred Naires who kept guard there, and pressed
on them with their lances with such force that they routed
them and killed eighty of them, and the governor of the city,
and two Gaimais of the Oamorim who were stationed there,
while the rest took to flight. And following up this victory,
the Marshal went into the palace through the gates, and
reached as far as a spacious courtyard, which contained the
houses ; but he was so tired that as soon as he entered he sat
down on a large block of stone,' and there remained for a long
space of time without being able to stir. Then the people
who had got in with him began to break open some doors
which were fastened, and scattered themselves about, robbing
whatever they found. But this courtyard, in which the
Marshal was, had two gates facing upon two streets of the
city; many Naires, therefore, began to arrive through them,
coming to the succour and relief of those who were on
guard at the palace, and these wounded many of our men
with arrows.
Tired as he was, the Marshal collected the few that were
with him, advanced to attack them, and fell upon them so
severely that he made them retire. Afonso Dalboquerque,
who was in the rearguard, as soon as he had arrived at the
gate of the palace through which the Marshal had entered,
rested quietly with his men in close order upon a broad
terrace which was close to the palace. When the Naires
perceived our men thus drawn up, they advanced to fight
them, and with arrows wounded them so severely that
' Pdinl, or poynl, a small platform with steps, for mounting on horse-
b.ick. Cf. podium.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 69
Afonso Dalboquerque, in order to make them keep off from
him, thought it advisable to tell Pedrafonso Daguiar to give
orders to fire upon them with the small field gun' which he
had brought up.
The Naires no sooner found themselves discomfited by
the execution of the gun, than they withdrew outside, and
began to set up loud shouts, which is their custom when
they wish to collect a crowd. When Afonso Dalboquerque
heard the shouting in the city, he sent word twice to the
Marshal to retire. But he had not yet got over his fit of
anger, so he paid no attention to the message, and allowed
himself to get quite rested from his fatigue. Nevertheless,
when Afonso Dalboquerque saw that the Naires were in
creasing in number, and that the Marshal was unwilling to
withdraw, he left Gonqalo Queimado, who carried his flag,
with his men, and went inside ; and, being by this time
worked up into a passion, told him to retire at once, for
there was no longer any time for waiting, because the
Naires were numerous and .increasing in numbers every
moment, and had already wounded some of his men, that it
was a very long way to the ships, and that if they delayed a
single hour longer all would be lost.
Then the Marshal immediately set to work to rally his
men, who were scattered about, and went out on to the ter
race ; and when all had united, Afonso Dalboquerque said to
him : — " Sir, how do you wish us to act ? for these men
require some one to lead the way for them and restrain
them from straggling, — because the Naires are many, and
the communication with the beach is broken, and I fear we
shall have a bad account to give of ourselves to-day if we do
not dispose ourselves properly." To this the Marshal re
plied, that since he wished it to be so, he, Afonso, should
take the vanguard, while he himself would remain behind in
' Bergo; pe(;a curta de artilharia de fabrica antiga : hoje nao se usa.
— Bluteau.

70 COMMENTARIES OP
the rear with his men. Then Afonso Dalboquerque began
to march with his flag, taking Gaspar da India, who went on
in front leading the way. And because all the way was
pali.saded on this side and on that, the natives began to
crowd upon us, and from over the tops of the stockade
handled our men very badly with arrows, stones, and hand-
darts. Yet, although they were thus harassed, Afonso Dal
boquerque ordered the men not to stay to attack them, but
to take the most direct way back to the beach.
Before commencing his retreat, the Marshal, who was
bringing up the rear, gave orders to set the palace on fire.
The Naires, as soon as they perceived the flames, rushed up
to extinguish them, and found the Marshal who was col
lecting his men as he went along, and began to attack the
party. But as the Naires were freshly arrived and our men
very much exhausted, after fighting for a considerable time,
the Naires put them to flight and killed the Marshal, and
his lieutenant, and Manuel Pecanha, Vasco da Silveira,
Lionel Coutinho, and Filippe Rodriguez, in all ten or twelve
of our principal men.
As soon as the news reached Afonso Dalboquerque that
the Marshal was fighting, he wheeled round, but those who
accompanied him were only very few, withstanding five
or six hundred men ; and in this manoeuvre of turning
round the natives wounded many of his men, and to
him they gave a lance-thrust with a short lance, from the
top of the palisade, in the left shoulder, and another wound
in the shoulder-blade which made him fall down. But
Diogo Fernandez de Beja, who was walking close beside
him, with great difficulty saved him from being killed, and
escorted him down to the ships borne on the backs of two
men. In this manoeuvre, too, the Moors killed GonQalo
Queimado, who carried Afonso Dalboquerque's flag ; ho met
his end like a very brave cavaher, close beside his captain.
Immediately that D. Antonio de Noronha and Rodrigo

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 71
Rabelo perceived the discomfiture of our men, they brought
up a body of soldiers to the entrance of the palisade to stay
them in their flight, for there was no necessity for flying ;
and, had it not been for this fresh assistance, the rout would
have been more disastrous. The Naires who were following
hard upon our men dared not advance any further when
they arrived at the place where D. Antonio and Rodrigo
Rabelo were stationed, but withdrew. Our men were so
thoroughly beside themselves, that on reaching the beach
they threw away their arms and got into the water intend
ing to take refuge in the boats. But Afonso Dalboquerque,
who was suffering severely from the pain of his wounds and
dared not venture to go up on board his own ship, com
manded them to carry him to Antonio Pacheco's caravela,
which was nearest to him, and there his wounds were
dressed, and there he remained that night. And on the
following morning he returned to his ship, and gave orders
for all the fleet to set sail direct for Cochim, leaving behind
him Jorge Botelho and Simao Afonso in their caravelas to
lie to over against the port of Cahcut, with orders not to
allow any ship to sail away from that coast with spices.

CHAPTER XVII.

Of the behaviour of the gamorim, when he learned that the Portuguese
had entered the City of Calicut : and how the great Afonso Dalbo
querque despatched Fr. Luis to Narsinga, to relate to the King
what had taken place in Cahcut, and further proceedings.
By the time that the great Afonso Dalboquerque and the
Marshal had arrived with their fleet opposite Cahcut, the
gamorim had beeu gone for some days already into the
interior country close to the mountain-range, to war with a
great lord, who was a vassal of the King of Cochim. But
when news was brought to him that the Portuguese had

72 COMMENTARIES OP
forced their way into the city, he broke up his camp, and
set off in the greatest haste by night without being per
ceived by the enemy. The Lord of the hill country, when
morning broke, and he saw that the Qamorira's camp was
broken up, and the Qamorim himself had gone away, has
tened rapidly after him, burning and destroying everything
in the land as he went.
It was not, however, until four days after the departure
of Afonso Dalboquerque that the gamorim reached Calicut ;
who, when he beheld the destruction of the city, and his
mosque and palaces all burnt, and his Gatual, the governor
of the city, and two Gaimais killed, as well as over three
thousand of the native and Malabar soldiery dead, became
very dejected ; and, showing signs of the deep feeling which
had seized him, he was unwilling to enter his palace, but
ordered the principal Moors of the city to be summoned
before him, and blamed them greatly for the excessive
weakness they had exhibited in their defence of the city,
and swore he would ruin them and cast them out of his
kingdom. That which made him feel this destruction more
deeply was the knowledge that there had not been killed
more than eighty Portuguese.
Even these I believe would not have been killed if our
men had not fled in so disorderly a way, without any body
of Naires (who compose the principal body of soldiers that
the King has) attacking them and throwing them into such a
rout as to leave two chief captains and ten or twelve fidalgos
who there met their death with them to be cut to pieces,
and without turning to look behind them to see what ima
ginary danger it was from which they were fleeing. For
had there been twenty men who had cared to rally them
selves together, the Marshal would not have been killed,
nor Afonso Dalboquerque wounded, for all the rest that
were killed in that affair were men without any sense of
shaine, and careless of the general orders and proclamations

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 73
that had been issued, and only going up and down pillaging
in the houses. And because the Naires also busied them
selves with robbing, if, in the house any of them entered,
any Portuguese were found, the greater number overpowered
the less, and in this manner some were killed, while the fire
cut off others who placed themselves in positions that had
not been preconcerted.
Afonso Dalboquerque was so deeply concerned at the death
of the Marshal and the fidalgos who had been slain with
him, that he determined to exact vengeance for their loss,
so he wrote to the King of Narsinga (for his kingdom
touches that of Calicut, and the two Kings were not very
friendly), that if he would come with his army by land, he
Afonso, would come by sea, and thus they would destroy
the Qamorim ; and to further the chance of success, he
would endeavour to come to an understanding with some
lords of the hill country to assist him. With this end in
view, he dispatched Fr. Luis of the order of St. Francis
with instructions as to what he was to say to the King (as is
here given below in full) ; and the friar set out from Cochim
in a vessel and reached BaticaM', and from that place made
his way on land straight to Narsinga. And Afonso Dalbo
querque also despatched Diogo Correa with a message to
Duarte de Lemos, as I have already related.
Two days after they had set out, two vessels of the fleet
commanded by Diogo Lopez de Sequeira arrived, and with
them came Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco, who related to
him all that had taken place in Malaca, and how the Go-
vernors of the city had planned treachery against Diogo
Lopez de Sequeira by order of their king, intending to
seize him, and all who accompanied him on shore, at a ban
quet which he intended to give him, and afterwards to take
the fleet ; but this plan had not succeeded, for Diogo Lopez
. Baticala. See page 53, note ; and page 77 ; also Chapter xlviii.

74 COMMENTAEIES OP
de Sequeira had been warned by a Jaoa} the lover of one
of our mariners, who came by night swimming to his ship ;
and that the King, when he saw that the treason was dis
covered, had laid hands upon Ruy de Araujo the factor,
and twenty other men who were with him on land attending
to the collection of the cargo of the ships ; and how he had
ordered two of the vessels which composed the fleet to be
burnt because he had not hands sufficient for their navi
gation, and sailed away; and how, when Diogo Lopez de
Sequeira had arrived at Caecoulao, where he first heard
that Afonso Dalboquerque was Captain-General of India,
he had despatched him, Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco, in
these two vessels, to make their way to Cochim, for they
were in a very leaky condition, and from that port, he,
Diogo, had made his way to Portugal to the seaward of the
Island of S. Lourenco.^
The Instructions which Fe. Luis caeeied.
" First of all you will say to the king of Narsinga, that
I announce to him that I am now newly arrived as Captain-
General of these parts of India by command of the King of
Portugal ; and that trusting in the confidence which his
ancestors possessed in him, I command you to visit him,
and to offer to him the fleets and army of the King my
Lord ; for I know for certain that he, the King of Portugal,
will be much gratified at my so doing, confiding in his friend
ship, his messages, and kindly offerings, which he has
always received from the Kings his ancestors, and which
were given to him in Portugal.
" You will tell him of the greatness and power of the
King my Lord, and of the great fleets which he sends
every year to India, and how the Indian seas are not navi-
' Jaoa-; a woman of the Island of Jaoa, Jauha, or Java.
2 Madagascar. See vol. i, page 25.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 75
gated now without a safe conduct from him ; and how the
ships and merchandise of those who do not carry his safe
conduct are captured ; and likewise you will tell him how
in my instructions the King of Portugal commands me to
render honour and willing service to all the Gentile kings
of his land and of the whole of Malabar, and that they are
to be well treated by me, neither am I to take their ships
nor their merchandise ; but I am to destroy the Moors,
with whom I wage incessant war, as I know he also does ;
wherefore I am prepared and ready to help him with the
fleets and army of the King, my Lord, whensoever and as
often as he shall desire me to do so ; and I likewise for my
part expect that he will help us with his army, towns, har
bours, and munitions, and with everything which I may
require from his kingdom ; and that the ships which navi
gate to his ports may pass safely throughout all the Indian
sea, and receive honour and good treatment at the hands of
the fleets and fortresses of the King of Portugal.
" You will give him an account of the destruction of
Calicut, and how I have been informed that he is its capital
enemy, and desires to overthrow it ; and therefore I send to
inform him that its palaces and the city itself have been all
burned and the inhabitants put to the sword, and all its
artillery captured, and that the Qamorim did not venture to
succour the city, but kept hiraself aloof in the hill country
which is over against Calicut and on the borders of his
kingdom, until he knew that we had withdrawn from the
place. " You will tell him that my determination is to take the
Qamorim captive and send him to Portugal to the King my
Lord, and that this can well be done if he, the King of
Narsinga, will only come with his camp over against the
hills of Calicut, whither the Qamorim withdraws when any
one makes war upon him on the sea coast ; and while he is
marching his army through the interior country, I will

76 COMMENTAEIES OP
come with a very large fleet along the shore, destroying all
the ports and towns in such a manner that the Qamorim
shall not be able to assist one side or the other with his army,
and that we shall take him without his being able to escape.
And so we shall drive out of Cahcut the Moors, who are the
people that furnish him with all the revenue that he requires
for the expenses of the war, and depriving him of the people
of the land, his ports will be left without trade, destroyed
and undone ; and after this is over, I shall give my atten
tion forthwith to the affairs of Goa, wherein I can help him
in the war against the King of Decan,^ and from him will I
take the trade in horses that comes to his kingdom, whereby
he is enabled to carry on the war with him (the King of
Narsinga). " You will tell him, also, how Ormuz now belongs to the
King my Lord ; and if he wishes to obtain the King of
Portugal's friendship and to send his ambassadors to Por
tugal to visit him with presents whereby he may show signs
of true friendship, the King of Portugal on his part will
send him many things that are in that kingdom. And
that the horses of Ormuz shall not be consigned except to
Baticala, or to any other port he pleases to point out where he
can have them, and shall not go to the King of Decan, who
is a Moor and his enemy. And in order that our friendship
be more firmly established, you will tell him that when he
comes with his camp to these parts, I will proceed to visit
him in person, and together we will arrange many matters
that will benefit his service. And I again remind you that
you are to labour as much as you possibly can to cause the
King of Narsinga to send his ambassadors to Portugal,
that they may visit the King, carrying presents of jewels
and other things produced in that land.
" You will, moreover, speak to him to the effect that, in
' Dcca}i, Dakhan, or Deccan, the name given to the great interior
country iu the South of India.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. / /
case it shall be to the advantage of the King my Lord that
we should make a settlement and factory in any place within
his ports between Baticala and Mangalor,^ he shall command
that the King's men and fleets be received in those ports and
be granted a space for erecting a strong house wherein his
merchandise and people may be secured from any tumult of
the natives which raay arise, seeing that the distance is so
great that his justices might not be able to arrive to succour
them in time to retrieve their position if it were assailed.
And if the King of Narsinga be willing to do this he shall
hold securely all the trade in horses and every other kind
of merchandise of Portugal which he may need in his land."
Of the Province op Malabar, and op some Customs which
THE People op Malabae practice.
The Province of Malabar commences at the port of
Maceirao, close to Mangalor, and reaches as far as the Cape
of Comorim^ in the interior country, bounded by the great
Kingdom of Narsinga ; and all along this land there runs a
very lofty mountain range which divides the Province of
Malabar from the Kingdom of Narsinga. The greatest
breadth of this land from the sea coast up to the range is
about fifteen leagues. These ranges of mountains are so lofty
that the natives of Narsinga say that in their country the
east winds never blow, because they are prevented from
passing over from the other side by reason of the great
height. The length of the coastline of this Province would
be about a hundred and thirty leagues. In it there are
raany kings, and all the people are heathens.
The sons of the kings do not inherit, but their nephews,
¦ Mangalor, or Mangalur, on the West Coast of India, 12 deg. 52 min.
N., 74 deg. 50 min. E. See the plan and description of the fortress in
]5arretto de Resende's work, MS. Sloane, 197, fo. 188.
' Tlio most southern point of the Indian Continent.

78 commentaries op
sons of their sisters, not the sons of their brothers, for they
hold it to be a very doubtful matter if their sons are their
own. Wherefore, if they have a sister, they give her to a
Brahmin, who keeps her as his mistress, and the sons of
this sister inherit the kingdom. And if they can get Brah
min Patamares} who come from the Kingdom of Cambaya
(and are held in these parts as a more noble race than any
other), to them they give their sisters to take them from
their earliest girlhood,*^ and with this charge they give the
Brahmins large sums of money that they may be willing to
take this trouble, which they perform very rigorously, and
the sons of these sisters inherit the kingdom .
These Brahmins are a set of religious men (just as our
priests among us here), who take care of their pagodas.
They have among themselves a scientific language, which is
like the Latin among us, that no one understands unless
he is instructed in it. They are married to one wife only ;
they do not eat flesh nor flsh, nor anything which may
suffer death ; their food is rice, milk, butter, and fruits, and
their drink, water. And, in order that this kind of sub
stance may never fail for the Brahmins, who were numer
ous, the ancient people of this land forbade that cows or
bulls should be killed, under penalty of death ; and this law
was so strictly observed that, not only do they not kill
them, but they worship them, and they are even held as
objects of sanctity. They have knowledge of the Trinity
and of Our Lady, whereby it appears that anciently they
were Christians.
The Naires of this land are the military men and esteemed
cavaliers, and the most honourable people of all the country ;
and it is said that in this province there would be about two
hundred thousand of these men. They are very loyal to
' Patamares, among the Canarese, messengers, or runners.
' Que o.f krem de virqindade.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 79
their king, and worship him ; and it has never been found
that a Naire has been guilty of treason.
They have physicians, whose method of cure is in this
wise. To those who are suffering from fevers, they give
meat and fish to eat, and purge them with the seed of the
jigueira^ de Inferno, " the fig tree of hell", or give the leaves
pounded to them in water to drink. If one suffers from
diarrhoea, they give him to drink the fresh water of cocos^
and it is stopped immediately. If any are sick, they wash
their heads for them with cold water, and the vomiting
ceases. If wounded, they give warm oil three times a day,
and cure them in this manner. In prolonged illnesses, the
remedy which they give to the sufferers is to take musi
cians and make pilgrimages to their pagodas.
In the Province of Malabar, there are between Chetua^
and Coulao many Christians of the time of St. Thomas, and
there are many churches. Many other customs have they,
concerning which I do not write, to avoid digression ; but
I leave the account of them to those who will write the
history of India.

CHAPTER XVIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque prepared his fleet with the intention
of entering the Straits of the Red Sea : and of the council he held
upon an expedition to Goa.
The great Afonso Dalboquerque was no sooner well of his
wounds, although he continued to feel somewhat of the in
jury done to his arm, and could not lift it well up to his
¦ The Ricinus communis, sometimes R. Palma Christi, the castor-oil
plant. ' The Cocos nucifera, or common coco-nut.
' Chaitwa, on the Western Coast of India, 10 dot;. 32 min. N., 70 dog.
3 min. E.

80 commentaries op
head, than he set to work at once to order the refitting of
all the ships, vessels, and galleys, which the Viceroy had left
in a dismantled state at the time of his departure for Por
tugal. And when he had his fleet already fitted out with
things necessary for the time that he should start, he sum
moned the captains and said to them : — " Sirs, now that the
affairs of Malabar are in a quiet state and settled, as you
perceive them to be, I have determined to go to Qocotora
and unite with Duarte de Lemos, in accordance with the
orders I have received from the King our Lord, and there
after to make our way to the Straits of the Red Sea in
search of the fleet of the Grand Sultan ; and, in case of not
finding it in the Sea, to go on to Suez and burn it for him ;
for the best way is to go and seek them there and not let
them get out and set foot in India, where for a certainty
they would command the favour and assistance of the Moors
against us. This has always been my policy, provided
that we are to govern; and there are many reasons which I
will give in support of my views, when I have more leisure
to do so ; and after this, we will go and complete the fortress
of Ormuz, which I left just coraraenced. And I beg of you
that, after well considering the one thing and the other, to
advise me what I ought to do." And, after they had heard
many propositions that were made concerning this matter,
it was decided that he ought to make his way to the Straits
of the Red Sea ; and, with regard to Ormuz, time would
show what he would have to do.
On this determination being arrived at, Afonso Dalbo
querque left the fortresses of Cochim provided with captains,
and men, artillery, gunpowder, and stores, and everything
else that they required, and a fleet of vessels along the
coast to rely upon in case anything should happen, and set
out from Cochim on the tenth day of February in the year
one thousand five hundred and ten with a fleet of twenty-
throe sui I. And these were the captains : — Dora Antonio de

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 81
Noronha his nephew, Garcia de Sousa who had come from
Malaca, Luis Coutinho, Jorge Foga9a, Jeronymo Teixeira,
Joao Nunez, Diogo Fernandez de Bdja, Jorge da Silveira,
Simao Martinz, Fernao Perez Dandrade, Simlto Dandrade his
brother, Aires da Silva, Francisco Pantoja, Duarte de Melo,
D. Jeronymo de Lima, Francisco Pereira Continho, Fran
cisco de Sousa Mancias, Manuel de Lacerda, Bernaldim
Freire, Jorge da Cunha, Antonio da Costa, and Francisco
Corvinel, a Florentine by birth. ^ And sailing along the
coast with all this fleet he made his way direct to Anjadiva,^
from which point he had determined to steer across to the
Cape of Guardafum.
And when he had progressed as far on his voyage as the
port of Mergeu,^ Timoja arrived in a fusta to parley with
the ship of Afonso Dalboquerque. This man was a Hindoo
by birth, very obedient to the interests of the King of Por
tugal ; and being a man of low origin had as a corsair raised
himself to a position of great honour. Timoja enquired of
Afonso Dalboquerque whither he was bound with so powerful
a fleet as this ; and he replied that his intention was to pro
ceed to the Straits in search after the fleet of the Grand
Sultan, and to fight with it when found ; and in case of not
finding the enemies at sea, should he obtain correct inform
ation of their having by that time set out, then to go to
Suez and burn all the ships and galleys for them that they
had there. Timoja informed him that he was very much
concerned at this idea, when he had the Rumes so near to
him, of going to seek for them at Suez, and begged to
acquaint him with the news that a captain of the Grand
Sultan, with some Rumes who had escaped from the rout
' Compare these names with those in the note on page 56.
' Anjadiva, between Cape Ramas and Honawar, not marked in Keith
Johnston's map, but its position is shewn in Pedro Berthelot's map in
Barreto de Resende's work. — MS. Sloane, 197, f. 164.
' Ilergeu is apparently Mirjan, 14 deg. 32 min. N., and 74 deg. 27
min. E. — The Rio de Mcrzeu, of Berthelot, as above.

82 commentaries op
inflicted upon them by D. Francisco Dalmeida, had arrived
at Goa, and that the Qabaio^ had made important overtures to
this captain to the end that he should settle there, and among
them there were carpenters and caulkers who had built
ships and galleys after the raodel of those of Portugal ; and
that this same captain had written to the Grand Sultan to
send him soldiers, because he hoped to establish himself
strongly at Goa, inasmuch as it was a country wherein were
plenty of supplies, and timber, and a good harbour, and
with his help from that base of operations they would cast
the Portuguese out of India, and then the spices would
again go to Meca and Cairo as they used to go in ancient
days. In addition to this, Timoja informed Afonso Dalboquerque
that the (Jlabaio, Lord of Goa, was dead, and Goa, being
without him, was dead also, and the place was not very
strong, and inside the city there were not men sufficient
for resisting so great a fleet as this ; and that the Hidalcao,^
son of the ^abaio, was very young, and on account of the
death of his father great divisions had arisen in the king
dom of Decan between the lords, and the opportunity now
presented itself for laying hands upon the city, if he was
inclined to attack it ; and in the entrance of the bar there
were about three fathoms and a half depth at full tide,
whereby all that fleet could enter without danger. Afonso
Dalboquerque thanked him excessively for this advice of
his ; but insomuch as in so great an undertaking as this
which had been proposed he could not take any steps with
out giving an account of it to the captains and men of
this fleet, because it had been decided to enter the Straits,
he would lay the relation of this matter before them, and
' Cahaio. This word may possibly be connected with sipahi, Arabic,
a soldier. 2 Hidalcao ; perhaps a proper name rather than a titular designation.
The definite article is, however, always prefixed.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 83
inform him, Timoja, of the conclusions at which they
arrived. As soon as Timoja had been dismissed with this reply,
Afonso Dalboquerque convened a meeting of all the cap
tains, fidalgos, and pilots of the fleet, and recounted to
them all that had passed in his interview with Timoja. And
after a prolonged debate, it was universally agreed that if
Goa were really in the state described by this information,
then the voyage to the Straits ought to be abandoned, and all
should strive their utmost to capture the city and drive the
Rumes out of it. After every one had delivered his opinion,
Afonso Dalboquerque said to them that for all that the
words of Timoja appeared to carry reason with them, still,
as it was a doubtful matter after all, he would not yet
swerve from the determination wherewith he had set out
from Cochim, nor would he abandon his intention of making
the voyage to the Straits, unless it were to strengthen
the kingdora of Orrauz, which was quite as important
as Goa, and very profitable to the service of the King
our Lord. And when once they should reach Ormuz
and refit her with supplies, she was a prize taken with
out any more fighting, and of this there could be no
denial. But although he had his eyes upon Ormuz on
account of the great trouble which she had cost him (for
the captains who had deserted him had forced him to aban
don the attack), nevertheless, if Timoja had spoken truly,
he could not deny that if they omitted now to capture Goa,
there would follow hereafter much trouble upon the affairs
of India ; and in addition to this it was very important
to bear in mind that if the Rumes established themselves
in Goa and fortified it, then the Qamorim, who was allied
with the city, would never, in his opinion, withdraw from it ;
but would give much trouble to the King of Portugal if at
any future time he should desire to take it. Nevertheless,
he continued, in this that he said he was not finally deter-

84 commentaries op
mined on any plan of action — he was only representing to
them all the reasons that could be adduced for and against
the proposal. For in the whole of the fleet they had not a
pilot who was better acquainted with Goa, its harbour, or
its bar, than that Timoja stated that it had a good harbour
and about three and a half fathoms of water in the bar at
high water. But Timoja, he said, had promised him that
he would return immediately with some more sure proofs of
what he had told him, and when he had this further in
formation before him, then he would make up his mind and
lay his plans before them. And all agreed to this course of
proceeding.

CHAPTER XIX.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail from the harbour of Mer
geu, and took up his station in front of the Castle of Cinticora ;
and what passed with Timoja, and how sailing thence he went and
anchored on the bar of Goa.
At the conclusion of all these debates, on a Monday, the
twenty-fifth day of the month of February, the great Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered all the fleet to set sail, and certain
ships which were going in company with him to ChauP to
follow him, as he was of opinion that if he required these
ships' boats for disembarking troops he could benefit by
their assistance, and rnake use of everything else they con
tained. And they all made their way together and proceeded
to anchor over against the Castle of Cintdcora ; and just as
they were casting anchors Timoja arrived from Onor with
thirteen fustas armed with a numerous body of men, and
without delay had au interview with Afonso Dalboquerque,
who was very much pleased at his coming, and enquired of
him, through Gaspar Rodriguez, the interpreter, what trust
worthy information he had of Goa.
' See vol. i, p. 222.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 85
Timoja replied, that by means of messages and letters
that he had received from certain influential Hindoos of
the city he had been notified of the death of the Qabaio ;
and that in Goa there was a captain, named Melique Qufer-
gugi,^ who had in his pay a thousand men under arms,
that were much enraged with him because he had not paid
them, so that they were all dying of hunger ; and that the
river of Goa was of the same depth that he had formerly
stated ; and that this captain, after the death of the Qabaio,
obeyed no one, and the people of the land were in great
dissension one with another. Afonso Dalboquerque enquired
of him the reason that had moved him to come and ad
vise him to take Goa. Timoja answered, that the principal
head-men^ of the natives that were established in the land
had written to tell him that the death of the Qabaio was
certain, and that all were very well pleased at hearing of it
on account of the numerous robberies and tyrannies which
he had practised upon them, and that during the year last
passed he had murdered and robbed more than two hundred
merchants, and that on this account the whole land had risen
up in mutiny and in quarrels one against another. " And,"
he continued, "if I wanted to possess myself of Goa, I
have only to go there with my men and they would yield
themselves up to me of their own accord."
Afonso Dalboquerque convened a general meeting of all
at his ship, and gave them an account of everything that
Timoja had told him, and begged thera seriously to make
up their minds, for they were wasting time without arriving
at any action. And he ordered Timoja to speak first, who
said that concerning the affairs of Goa he had nothing to
say, for he had already stated all that had taken place ;
but that, as for himself, he was prepared with his fustas
to accompany him by sea, and would send many of his men
> This is the Portuguese transhteration of a native name which I can
not identify. '' Cabeceiras, cahoceers.

86 commentaries op
by land, and he would undertake to promise that, on the
anchoring of the fleet in the harbour of Goa, the governors
of the city would immediately order the keys of the fortress
to be delivered up to him without any resistance.
When Timoja had made an end of stating his opinions, the
captains debated about the business ; and, after settling cer
tain differences they had respecting the entering of the bar,
it was agreed that they should fall upon the city. Here
upon Afonso Dalboquerque told Timoja to send his men by
land to make their way, destroying the places which had been
built along the sea front. And because this man's desires
were that Goa should be captured for the sake of the profit
that he hoped to make out of it, he sent by land two thou
sand men, led by one of his cousins and by a Moor who had
been a captain of the Qabaio, whose name was Melique
QufecondaP — who had fled from Goa out of fear of the
^abaio, and had secreted himself in his house. As soon as
our fleet had dropped anchor Timoja's men came up by land
and fell upon the fortress of Cintacora — which is on the
bank of the river whereby the kingdora of Onor is divided
from that of Goa, — in which fortress an alcaide was
stationed with a body of men. And when they beheld
our fleet all took to flight ; so that Timoja's men found the
fortress deserted when they reached it; and they threw
down part of it, and set fire to the buildings, and collected
some pieces of artillery^ which the Turks had placed there.
At the sight of this good fortune Afonso Dalboquerque
hoisted sail with all his fleet and stood in and anchored
inside the bar of Goa, a good distance away from it.
While Timoja was passing along the edge of the land in
one of his fustas he captured a Moor, who was walking
along the beach, barefooted and clad in the garb of a her
mit, and he carried him before Afonso Dalboquerque, who
1 The Portuguese equivalent of an Indian name.
" Bombardas de cepo, trunk-guns, perhaps mortars.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 87
demanded of him what sort of a man he was and what he
was doing there, and what news of Goa he could give.
The Moor replied that he was a poor jogue^ who live.d
there in the woods in a little house serving' God, and that
the news of Goa was that the ^abaio was dead and his son
away in the interior country, and the captain that was at
present in command had not more than a hundred Rumes
in his company, but there were very many native soldiers,
but all of them much opposed to the captain ; and there
were so many dissensions inside the city, one quarrelling
with the other, that many prayed to God that the Franks
would come against it and take it; and 'that there were
twelve very large ships fitted out, built after the model of
the Flor de la Mar, and many fustas, and watch-boats,^ and
four ships loaded with merchandise, two to go to Adem
and two to Ormuz, and besides these Rumes who were
stationed in the fortress, there were above a hundred in
pardos and fustas, leading the life of pirates.
Ou the receipt of this information Afonso Dalboquerque
summoned the captains to his ship, and told them that he
had always been doubtful of undertaking this affair of Goa
because he desired to comprehend the design and force of
the enemy ; but seeing that the affair was in the state that
everybody declared, he was of opinion that it would be ad
visable to undertake it. But over and above this informa
tion which they had, they ought to order the sounding of the
river first of all, for he did not wish to enter upon this
business rashly. And all agreed in this, and that he should
send Timoja on in front with his watch-boats.
' Jogue, an Indian word, jogi, signifying an ascetic, or gymnosophist ;
for some account of their hideous practices and austerities of life, see
Bluteau, tom. iv, p. 190, col. 2.
^ See vol. i, p. 113.

88 COMMENTARIES OP

CHAPTER XX.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered D. Antonio de Noronha
and other captains to sound the river, and how they took the Castle
of Pangij, which stands at the entrance of the bar, and further pro
ceedings.
The morning of the day following that on which this
council had been held, which was the twenty-eighth of the
month of February, in the year '10, the great Afonso Dal
boquerque ordered D. Antonio de Noronha, with certain
pilots, to sound the bar, and Timoja to accompany them
with two watch-boats. And they found two fathoms and a
half depth at low water, and three at high water. When
Dom Antonio had taken the soundings of the bar he re
turned and related to him what he had found. The captain
of the city was fearful lest our men should capture one of
the earthworks which were placed inside the bar when he
saw them in progress of taking soundings, he therefore
gave orders with great diligence to provide them with in
fantry and cavalry, and large and small pieces of artillery.
And, because the principal of these fortifications was the
tower of Pangij, which commanded the entrance of the bar,
he sent a captain thither and ordered it to be reinforced
with everything that was required for its defence.
And, although it had been determined with assent of all
to enter with the whole of the fleet within the bar, yet Afonso
Dalboquerque could not be persuaded to bring up his large
ships into a river of which his pilots had no practical
knowledge. And in this frame of mind he summoned a
meeting of the captains to his ship in the night, and pointed
out to them the anxiety which had troubled him with re
spect to this, and shewed how prudent an undertaking it
would be for some boats first of all to go right over the
bar inside to see how matters were going on there and to
sound the depth which the river had, so as not to find

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 89
themselves hereafter inside the bar with the large ships in
any danger which they would be unable to remedy. Every
one considered this advice excellent, so Afonso Dalbo
querque comraissioned D. Antonio de Noronha, his nephew,
to get himself in readiness to take comraand of this under
taking as captain, and sent in company with him Jeronymo
Teixeira, Simao Martinz, Joao Nunes, Garcia de Sousa, and
Jorge da Silveira in their boats, and Simao Dandrade and
Diogo Fernandez de B^ja in two galleys whereof they were
captains, and Timoja with his fustas. And on the following
morning early they all set sail together and made directly
for the bar, and shaped their course into the river straight
to the fortress of Pangij, because it was close up by the
entrance of the bar.
No sooner had D. Antonio de Noronha arrived with his fleet
of boats and galleys in front of the fortress, than the Moors
began to fire at him with the artillery they had with them,
but as the guns were trained high, the shots passed over
head and did no injury to our boats. When the fury of
the firing was over, D. Antonio thought a good opportunity
offered itself for their disembarking, and he passed the word
to the captains to order all the men to row right down upon
the fortress, and jump on to the shore as soon as the prows
strucl' the beach. And thus while the artillery began to
open fire again without doing any harm, they all disem
barked with a great and furious rush, and fighting bravely
forcibly entered into the fortress through the loopholes of
the bombards or by scaling the walls, and put many to
death, as well those on foot as those on horseback, and even
wounded the captain, who escaped, indeed, because he
could not be distinguished from the others, and the rest of
the rnen took to flight towards the city.
The Moors who were stationed in the earthwork on the
land side perceived the overthrow of the fortress of Pangij,
and every one of them fled away, because they were not

90 COMMENTARIES OP
sufficiently strong to resist any attack. Elated with this
victory, D. Antonio ordered Timoja to proceed to the attack
of the earthwork that stood on the opposite side; but when
he arrived there he found it deserted, so he collected the
artillery and everything that he found in it. And when
D. Antonio had gathered all the spoil which he had gained
from the Moors of Pangij, which consisted of a large num
ber of lances, swords, shields, and eighteen pieces of artil
lery, he ordered the buildings of the fortress to be set on
fire and betook himself again to the boats and made his
way back to the ships.
Ou the arrival of D. Antonio with news of this unex
pected success, Afonso Dalboquerque received them all with
great approbation and delight, praising him very much for
this deed of valour ; and, being unable to brook any delay,
seeing the benefits our Lord conferred on him, he again
commanded D. Antonio to enter the river and go and re
connoitre the city with the galleys and boats which he had
provided. And because he was afraid of the fiistas that
were in Goa, he ordered that the party this time should be
reinforced with a few small vessels. And just as they
were ready to set out on the following morning, two of
the principal Moors of the city arrived in a pardo with a
message from the captain and inhabitants of Goa to the
Captain-General, saying that all would put themselves under
his orders and do everything that he should command, for
they would rather become the vassals of the King of Por
tugal than of the Hidalcao, on account of the frequent
tyrannies which the father of the HidalcSo had visited upon
thera. Afonso Dalboquerque would not give them an immediate
answer. And he ordered D. Antonio, notwithstanding this,
to proceed on his expedition up the river to reconnoitre the
city, and see how it was placed, and its walls, and its
fortress, and especially to endeavour to find some places

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 91
whereby the best means of entry could be effected. When
D. Antonio had set out, Afonso Dalboquerque kept the
Moors with him all that day ; and when he thought that
D. Antonio had already got on so far as to be opposite
the city, he replied to them that they might tell the captain
of Goa that he was the Captain- General of India for the
King of Portugal, D. Manuel, his Lord, and provided that
they on their part were willing to put themselves under
obedience to hira, and surrender to him the fortress of Goa,
as they said they would, and deliver up to him all the
Rumes and Turks in the city, — for these were his mortal
enemies, — he, on his part, in the name of the King his
Lord, would assure them their lives and treat them with
every consideration, according to the instructions he had
received from his Highness.
When the Moors had gone away carrying back this reply,
Afonso Dalboquerque perceiving that the inhabitants of
the city had virtually surrendered, like a prudent captain
watching the victory which he had in his hands, without
waiting any longer for news of D. Antonio, made ready all
the boats and small vessels, and jpardos of the ships of
Cananor that were left with him, and set out at once behind
the Moors with all this fleet, leaving the large ships outside
the bar — for it was a matter requiring more leisure to get
them over the bar, — and that same day he came up oppo
site the city, where he found D. Antonio de Noronha already
at anchor in front of the fortress. The captain and gover
nors of the city, terrified at this tumult of boats and armed
host, sent immediately four principal Moors to beg a safe-
conduct in order to treat for some settlement of affairs.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he would be happy to
grant their request with the conditions which he had already
conveyed to their consideration. The Moors returned
forthwith with the answer that they would nccept the safe-
conduct that he would give them ; and as all were wilhng

92 COMMENTARIES OP
to surrender the city into his hands, they begged him to
be pleased to grant its extension as well to include certain
Rumes and Turks who were there — strangers, — for it did
not seem reasonable nor according to the laws of humanity
to deliver them up. As Afonso Dalboquerque was unwilling
to decide this point of his own responsibility, he called a
meeting of the captains and recounted to them what the
captain and governors of the city were treating for ; and
it was universally agreed that unless the Rumes and Turks
were delivered up, the armistice should no longer be ob
served, but on the following morning the combat against
the city should begin.
The Moors retired with this message, and a large part of
the night was spent without any further negociation ; and
while Afonso Dalboquerque was considering what further
proceedings he should enter into, and wondering what was
the cause of the delay, there came to him by night a native
— a relation of Timoja, — and informed him that the captain
of the city had fled away, and that he had done so in order
to avoid surrendering the Rumes and Turks, and had left
the fortress stripped of everything, and that the people of
the city were engaged in nothing but pillaging everything
they could find. Although Afonso Dalboquerque was very
desirous of getting these Turks and Rumes into his power, he
was, nevertheless, pleased to get the city without any trouble
or danger to his men, and ordered Garcia de Sousa and Dom
Jeronymo de Lima to go forward in their boats in front of
the gates of the fortress, and there station themselves on
the watch until the morning, to prevent any Moors from
going out or entering in by that gate.
Op THE Site and Foundation op the City op Goa.
The kingdom of Goa belonged in ancient days to the
Hiuvloos, and was tributary to the King of Narsinga;
but at the time that Afonso Dalboquerque captured it it

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 93'
had been freed for about seventy years, and no longer subject
to that king. The principal centre of this kingdom was the
city of Goa^, which is situated on an island which all the
Hindoos call TiQuarij, surrounded on every side with lagoons
of salt water and islands. And in some of the principal
passes of this island they had built towers to prevent the
incursions of the Moors of the mainland. And because
the pass of Gondali was so shallow that it could be forded
at low water, it was ordered that all those who were con
demned to die by the hands of justice, and also any Moors
who were captured in battle, should be cast into this part
in order that the alligators that abound in these lagoons
should come thither to seek for their carcasses — and these
creatures were so numerous and so accustomed to assemble
at this fattening place that the Moors on this account dared
not attempt to pass over the ford, — and by means of this
artifice, and with the rest of the towers that were built
around the island, they lived many -years without the Moors
being able to get in among them.
The first population that occupied this island of Tifuarij
founded Old Goa, and from the appearance of its buildings it
was a great place. The reason that the original founders estab
lished themselves there, and not where the city of New Goa
now stands (if we may so call it) — granted that the harbour
and river are much better, — was on account of the shallow
ness of the water on the bar, and the impossibility of ships
and vessels passing over. But in course of time the water
which comes down from the high land of the Oate^ — which in
the winter rushes down with great fury to the sea, — little by
little enlarged the bar in such a manner that the depth of
water increased so as to admit the passage of ships and
vessels. When the inhabitants of Old Goa perceived that
' 1 5 deg. 27 min. N., 73 deg. 53 min. E. New Goa, or Panjim, is 15
deg. 26 min. N., 73 deg. 51 min. E.
' See page 95. Cf. Ghaut, or Ghat.

94 commentaries op
this river and harbour were better, and that the bar had
increased in depth so that ships and vessels could enter
thereby without peril, they deserted the habitations of Old
Goa, and came and founded the populous places where now
stands our fortress, and there they built a very large city.
And as they were a maritime race, and more inured to the
hardships of the sea than all the other nations, they imme
diately began to build ships of great burthen, and navi
gated all the coasts of India. They were valiant men and
good archers, and in this respect they performed good ser
vice to all their neighbours.
In the time of the Hindoos Goa was ever considered a
very important place in those parts, and there were therein
many soldiers, both infantry and cavalry, and by their aid
the city defended itself for many years against the power
of the King of Daquera.^ The Hindoos had therein many
venerable temples, of a very good style of architecture,
wherein lived certain men, as religious persons ; these
they called Brahmans (Bramenes) , and there they keep the
rites of their false worship. They had a custom that if any
Hindoo died, the wife had to burn herself of her own free
will ; and when she was proceeding to this self-sacrifice it
was with great merry-making and blowing of music, saying
that she desired to accompany her husband to the other
world. But the wife who would not so burn herself was
thrust out from among the others, and lived by gaining, by
means of her body, support for the maintenance of the
pagoda of which she was a votary. However, when Afonso
Dalboquerque took the city of Goa, he forbade from that
time forward that any more women should be burned ; and
although to change one's customs is equal to death it
self, nevertheless, they were happy to save their hves, and
spoke very highly of him because he had ordered that
there should be no more burning.
' I.e., Deccan.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 95
Through this harbour of Goa was always the principal
passage to the kingdora of Narsinga and of Daquera ; and
for this reason it contained much merchandise, and large
caravans of merchants came from the interior country in
quest of it, and brought other commodities in exchange.
And from this commerce which they had one with another
the inhabitants of Goa grew so prosperous that it was said
that Goa alone in those days had a revenue of two hundred
thousand pardaos^. Between this kingdom of Goa and that
of Daquera, on the side of the interior country, there runs a
range of mountains, very lofty and very extensive, which
is called the Gate,^ and divides these two kingdoms one from
the other. This range of mountains had certain passes by
which it was entered, and in these the Hindoos had their
towers with garrisons for their defence.
And, although the ascent to this range of mountains is
very steep and rocky, yet as soon as the summit is reached
the ground is quite flat for all the rest of the way in front,
and densely peopled with very large towns, in such a manner
that this range hangs over Goa and over the sea like an
awnino-. I do not here give any further account of this
land, for it is my intention only to treat of the way in
which Dalboquerque gained possession of it from the Moors,
and not how they made themselves masters of it. And
after that the Moors had for many years gained the king
dom of Daquem from the King of Narsinga and were
masters of it, although they always waged war with the
Hindoos of Goa until the Qabaio became Lord of Daquem,
they could never overcome them ; but this prince carrying
on the war with them was oftentimes overcome and as many
times conqueror — finally, having seized the passes of the hill
country by treachery, he came down with a great body of
' Pardao, an Indian coin equivalent to 370 reis Portuguese; i.e., about
Is. 6Jd. English. " Cem mil pardaos sao noventa mil cruzados de nossa
moeda."— Bluteau, s.v. ' See page 93.

96 COMMENTARIES OP
men over against the island of Goa, and remained encamped
before the city for so long a time until he got inside. And
after the capture of the entire city, the rest of the kingdom
fell without any further resistance, and thereupon became the
principal city of both kingdoms. And when the old Qahaio
perceived that the site of Goa was very good, and well
supplied with water, and the island of itself very fertile
and pleasant, he determined to take up his residence there
in, and leave all the rest of his kingdom, out of liking for
Goa ; and lost no time in building palaces, very large and
of excellent workmanship. And after finding himself set
tled there in security he became so well pleased with the
harbour and the river, and the favourable position which it
occupied for building large fleets, that he was constantly
asserting to those who were his favourites that since for
tune had bestowed Goa upon him,he hoped thereby to gain
possession of the kingdom of Cambaya, and destroy the
whole of Malabar, for these were always the most formid
able opponents he had.
But when Afonso Dalboquerque took Goa, it would be
about forty years, more or less, since the ^abaio had taken
it from the Hindoos. As soon as the news got abroad that
the Cabaio was Lord of the kingdom of Goa, owing to the
great reputation which he had acquired in past tiraes, every
body endeavoured all they could to enjoy his friendship, and
the Xeque Ismael, and the Grand Sultan of Cairo, and the
King of Adem immediately dispatched their ambassadors to
his Court, making many overtures to him for his friendship.
And because he used to give a greater payment to foreigners
than any king of India, there immediately flocked to Goa
many Rumes, Turks, Arabs, and Persians, and by the assist
ance of these people he wrested many places from the king
of Narsinga and made himself the great lord of the kingdom
of Daquem.
And after the Portuguese had gained a footing in India,

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 97
the people of Malabar, who, were the principal enemies the
^abaio had, allied themselves with him and made him their
captain-general, and offered him great sums of money and
soldiers, and every other kind of assistance that he required
in his operations against ua. And towards the support of
this enterprise the Qabaio had prepared a very large fleet of
ships, vessels, and galleys in the river of Goa, which was
just on the I point of completion when the great Afonso
Dalboquerque entered the city.
On the coast of the kingdom of Goa there are other har
bours, in which, before it was taken by the Portuguese,
there were ships and merchants, but there are none now
by reason of their fear of our fleets, and also because
Afonso Dalboquerque would uot allow any trade along the
whole of that coast except in Goa.

CHAPTER XXI.

How the Governors of the City of Goa delivered the keys of it to the
great Afonso Dalboquerque, and of the spoils he found therein, aud
further proceedings.
As soon as D. Jeronymo and Garcia de Sousa had set
out to watch the fortress (as I have already described), the
great Afonso Dalboquerque remained quiet throughout the
night waiting for the break of day, and advised the cap
tains what course they should pursue if any resistance should
be offered to them when entering the city. And just as the
morning began to break he ordered the signal to be made
to them, of which he had previously given them notice.
When the captains heard the signal, they weighed anchor,
and steered with all their people — about one thousand Por
tuguese and two hundred men of Malabar,— -towards the
galley where Afonso Dalboquerque was, and from that point
commenced their course, and, arriving at the city when it

98 COMMENTARIES OF
was clear day, not meeting with any resistance, they entered
in at the gate, with a cross carried in front of them ; and
there was the great Afonso Dalboquerque kneeling on his
knees, who, letting fall many tears, gave thanks to our Lord
for that loving-kindness which He had shewn him in deliver
ing into his hands^ so large and so powerful a city without
trouble to, or death of any one. This cross was borne aloft
by a friar of St. Dominic, behind it was carried the royal
flag which was made of white satin with a cross of Christus
worked in the centre, and in this order of procession they
all went on up to the gate of the castle, where the principal
Moors of the city, and the governors thereof, stood in ex
pectation of their arrival. And these men casting them
selves at the feet of our party, delivered up to them the
keys of the fortress, and begged them earnestly of their
kindness that they would respect the assurance of safety
that had been given to them.
When Afonso Dalboquerque had entered into the fortress,
because he perceived that many men of the city were follow
ing up behind him, he commanded Dom Antonio de Noronha
to wait behind with fifty men at the gate, and not suffer any
Moor to enter. The Hindoos who were inside approached
hira in their accustomed courteous manner, and told him that
they wished to become vassals ofthe King of Portugal and to
place themselves in obedience to him. He therefore re
ceived them with great affection and consideration, and
ordered proclamation to be made, that under penalty of
death for disobedience, no one should touch a single thing
belonging either to the Moors or Hindoos who were in Goa,
but treat them as vassals of the King of Portugal his lord.
As soon as this was over, he proceeded to inspect the
fortress and the palace of the ^abaio, which was all made
with joinery work, and had gardens and pools of water
within it. And thence he went on to some large arsenals,
' Sec Camoes, Lu.iiada, x, 42; quoted in vol. i, Introduction, p. i.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 99
wherein he found many supplies, a great quantity of pow
der, and many materials for making it, and many weapons
for the men, both infantry and cavalry, and a very large
quantity of merchandise, and in some stables of large size,
one hundred and sixty horses ; and in divers parts of the
city there were captured forty large field guns* and fifty-
five howitzers^ and of other lesser kinds of artillery a great
quantity, and many other things which I do not write of,
so that I may not tire the reader. To the shore there
were moored forty ships, large and small, and sixteen
fustas; and there was also there a great supply of ropes
and cordage, and boltwork, and everything else that was
necessary for them.
And there, too, Afonso Dalboquerque found all the
women and children of the Turks and Rumes, whom they
could not carry with them, by reason of the haste they made
in fleeing away with Milique Qufegurgij. For when this
man arrived at the pass of Gondali, intending to cross over
to the mainland, so great was the thronging haste, that
many fugitives were suffocated in the river, and others lost
their horses and quantities of clothing which they were
carrying, because there were no means of passing over the
ford except by pieces of wood laid across one another. As
soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had gathered the women and
children of the Turks together, he ordered that they should
receive proper attention, and be safely kept ; and on the
second taking of this city he converted them to Christianity,
and married them to Portuguese men, as I shall show fur
ther on.
Now that the great Afonso Dalboquerque was already
in possession of the city, he ordered that the captains of
the ships of Cananor should be called together, and then
he gave them permission to depart, and made them accept
a part of the spoils that had been taken there. And when
1 Bnmhardas. '^ Falcoes.

100 COMMENTARIES OF
these men had departed, he called Timoja, and told him he
had information that there yet remained some Turks iu the
castle of Banda, and in other strongholds round about It;
and as he was determined that there should not remain any
of the seed of these people in the whole of the kingdom of
Goa, he was desirous of ordering him to destroy those
castles, and put them all to the sword; he would therefore
earnestly desire him to send his cousin with some fustas to
show our people the entries to the rivers, for they did not
know them.
Timoja replied that he considered it a good plan to order
the casting out of all the Turks from the island of Goa, and
from the neighbouring places, for as long as they remained
therein they would give much trouble, so he would make his
cousin ready with the fustas which were necessary for that
object. This having been agreed upon, Afonso Dalbo
querque sent word to D. Antonio de Noronha, his nephew,
to make ready the ship Sancta Glara, and the Cirne, and
the Flor de la Mar, and the Flor da Rosa, which were sta
tioned outside the bar (as I have already said), and three
galleys, and go and overrun all those places and destroy
them, not sparing the life of a single Turk or Moor whom
they might find.
D. Antonio set out and drew up opposite the fortress of
Banda; and as soon as the fleet had dropped anchor, he
got into the galleys and ships' boats, and made his way up
the river, taking with him In the front rank the cousin of
Timoja with three fustas. When the Hindoos of the land
perceived our fleet, inflamed with hatred against the Turks,
they all rose up against them, and these, terrified at our men,
deserted the fortress and fled away Into the interior country,
so that when D. Antonio de Noronha arrived, the Hindoos
were already in possession of it, and their captain imme
diately had an audience with D. Antonio, and paid him
homage for the fortress, promising to hold himself in obe
dience to the king of Portugal.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 101
As soon as the news that Banda had surrendered ran
along the coast, the Turks who were in the fortress of Con
dal — distrusting the Hindoos who were elated at the favour
able treatment they had received from our fleet — deserted
it and fled up the river. And when it was known in the
laud that the Turks had fled, a Hindoo captain came with
a large body of men, and put himself into the fortress, and
sent his subraission to Afonso Dalboquerque, holding him
self to be a subject of the king of Portugal, and D. Antonio
returned to Goa, and passed up the river with the large
ships, and gave an account of what had taken place to his
uncle, and how he had set fire to four vessels which the
Rumes had in the river at Banda.

CHAPTER XXIL

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque began to build the fortress of Goa :
and what passed with the Captams and Timoja.
No sooner had the great Afonso Dalboquerque obtained
complete information respecting the affairs of Goa, than he
began at once to turn his attention to the fortification of
the city, with the determination of repairing it, and strength
ening his position therein, in order to be able to rely on
the assistance it would give him in his trouble. And his
first operation was upon the foundations aud walls, with many
people ofthe land who laboured at the work; and the cap
tains with their men had their hours of work according as
it came by turn to them, and so the work of fortification
progressed with great rapidity by reason of the fear he had
lest the Hidalcao should come up against him, and there he
stood all day long, and at night slept with his clothes on
upon a couch. And within the fortress he ordered them to
lay the foundations of some very large stone rooms, in order
that in them he might collect every year large quantities of-

102 COMMENTAEIES OP
corn and rice, that from these might be victualled all the
other fortresses and all the fleets of India, making prepara
tions that there all the business of India should be carried
on, according to what he saw In the arrangement and
situation ofthe city.
When he had put all this work into order, he called for
Timoja to advise with him concerning the settling of the
land, and told him that since the King of Portugal was
lord of the land. It would not be right that he ¦¦should get
less revenue from it than other former lords ; that he ought,
therefore, to summon a meeting of all the Hindoos, and
notify to them that from that time forward they would have
to pay to the King their lord, from the property they held,
the tribute which hitherto they had been accustomed to pay
to the King and Lord of Goa.
Timoja replied that he would call them together and ac
quaint them of this matter. But nevertheless he was not
pleased to find that Afonso Dalboquerque had resolved to
retain Goa ; for he had, some days before this, privately
requested him to hand over the place to him, with all its
lands, and he would pay a certain sum every year by way
of revenue for it, sustaining and defending the place at his
own risk. And Afonso Dalboquerque always made a point
of deferring to give any reply to this request of his, without
giving any account of it to the captains, by reason of the
necessity he had of using Timoja's men for the work of the
building. But when Timoja perceived that Afonso Dalbo
querque would not give him any definite answer, he made
np his mind to relate the affair to certain of the captains,
in order to gain them over to take his part ; and they, as
people who were wearied with the war aud the operations
iu Goa, gave him to understand that it would be very bene
ficial to the service of the King if Afonso Dalboquerque
would hand over to him the possession of Goa.
When Timoja had gained over to his side these captains

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 103
with whom he conversed, he began to put greater pressure
upon Afonso Dalboquerque for an answer to his request,
and because this business soon leaked out between them,
Afonso Dalboquerque, pretending to know nothing about it,
ordered them all to be summoned to a meeting, and told
them that they were well aware for how long a time Timoja
had laboured In the service of the King of Portugal, and
particularly what he had done towards the taking of the
city, and how much reason there was that he should be
rewarded, because, apart from Its being very necessary that
his services should be requited, it would also be an example
to many others, urging thera also to eome forward and
serve the King ; and concluded by asking them to advise
him what to do in the matter.
The captains, almost to a man, were of opinion that Goa
should be given to him, alleging that Timoja was a lord over
many people, and could maintain it, and defend it against
the Turks ; and that, notwithstanding all this, he would
give twenty thousand pardaos'- by way of tribute every
year, and if he were to give this it would be more service
able to the King than for them to maintain the place at
their own cost.
When Afonso Dalboquerque saw the captains' intentions,
he replied to them that he was very much surprised at their
considering it right to give away so noble a city as Goa,
and one so important for the service of the King of Portugal,
to Timoja for no commensurate price which he would give
for it, and not rather choosing to strengthen the city with
a good fortress, because therein the governor of India ought
to make his principal seat of government ; neither ought
the revenues to be farmed out to Timoja without first of all
finding out to what sum they amounted, and being apprised
of his intended manner of government, and whether, when
' 20,000 X Is. 6^d,= £1541 l3s. 4d., a large sum in the early years
of the sixteenth century.

104 COMMENTARIES OP
they had been so apprised of it, he would perform all things
to the furtherance of the King's service.- And, he continued,
with regard to what they said concerning Timoja being
sufficiently powerful to defend Goa from the Turks, he was
much more surprised at this, that they were doing, by offer
ing such advice, the very thing to make Timoja powerful
enough to defend Goa from any one of the captains of the
Hidalcao who might come against him, much more than
from the Turks only. And the satisfaction due to him for
his services should rather resemble that given to a spy who
had bravely carried out the commands of his captain, or to
a subject who had served his lord loyally, than that awarded
to a man on whora the safety of every one depended. And
they must uot forget the services rendered by the King of
Cochim, who indeed only received from the King of Portugal
a yearly sum of five hundred cruzados, and was very well
contented therewith.
The captains wore so put to shame by this speech that
Afonso Dalboquerque made to them, that they did not dare to
reply to it. And when the meeting came to an end, he
summoned Timoja before him, and told him that he had
always desired to do hira a kindness in the name of the
King D. Manuel his lord in return for the numerous ser
vices that he had rendered in these parts ; and as there was
at present nothing that could be given to him, he would, in
the King's name, make him a present of the whole of the
revenue of the lands of Mergeu paid in the factory of Goa,
and would appoint him to be chief Aguazil, and captain of
all the people of the land ; and that he begged him earnestly
to be pleased to accept this offering, for the present occa
sion did not offer any possibility of recompense in any other
manner ; and with respect to his request, he could give no
reply until he had iu the first instance written to the King
D. Manuel, but he would take care to carry out his High
ness's wishes with regard to it.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 105
Timoja was not pleased at this reply, for he had always
entertained a hope that Afonso Dalboquerque would give
Goa to him by reason of the promises that the captains had
made to him, nevertheless he accepted the reward that had
been offered, and returned home to his house a very rich
man, because on the entering into the castle, Afonso Dal
boquerque gave him two houses without ascertaining what
he was giving, and it afterwards turned out that they con
tained a large quantity of merchandise and two zambucos,
which Timoja loaded with the merchandise, and carried
away with him. Three days after that Timoja had gone
away, some Hindoos came to tell Afonso Dalboquerque that
he was in the land of Salsete, and that as soon as he had
got there every Hindoo had gone over to hira and had come
to a determination of going whithersoever he went and de
serting the land. Afonso Dalboquerque knew that this was
a piece of spite brought about by Timoja, but concealed his
thoughts from the Hindoo messengers, and made as though
he did not understand the drift of what they said.
When Timoja saw that Afonso Dalboquerque had not
given any answer to the request of the Hindoos, he sent
word to him by one Naigue, his captain, that it had always
been his desire to serve the King of Portugal, and for this
reason, after he had set out, he had remembered that he had
left hira in Goa without anyone by his side to explain to
him the manners and customs of the land, and therefore he
would hke to return'again into the service of the King of
Portugal, and do whatever was required of hira. And thus
Alfonso Dalboquerque, although he now knew hira to be a
worthless and ill-tempered fellow, seeing that he had now
abandoned his former request, consented to his return, and
agreed to receive him again in order to settle, with this
man's co-operation, the affairs of Goa.
As soon as Timoja received the message of recall he re
turned without loss of time, and Afonso Dalboquerque com-

106 COMMENTARIES OP
manded the principal Moors and Hindoos to unite together
and go to receive him. And these took many trumpets and
made a great deal of music, according to their custom, when
they met him. And after performing this show of native
courtesy, Afonso Dalboquerque told them that he had made
Timoja chief Aguazil of the kingdom of Goa in the name of
the King of Portugal, and had given him all the power of
justice over the Hindoos and Moors, and that he was to
provide for all things arising in the land, and everything
that he might order was to be obeyed. And then he in
vested him with a drawn sword, ornamented with silver
on the handle, and with a ring, for it was the custom of the
country to give these things to those who were entrusted
with any high position in the government.
The Hindoos were very well pleased with the considera
tion and honour that Afonso Dalboquerque had shown to
them, and they set Timoja In a kind of sedan-chair, and
carried him all round the city, with great merry-making
and blowing of trumpets. And when this was over Afonso
Dalboquerque farmed out to him the lands of Goa — re
serving the island — for one hundred thousand cruzados, he
agreeing to pay all persons and expenses necessary for its
defence; and when all these matters had been arranged they
became very friendly, and from that day forward Timoja
began to attend to his duties.

CHAPTER XXIIL

How the Ambassadors of the Xeque Ismael, and of the King of Ormuz,
who were in Goa, sent word to the great Afonso Dalboquerque,
desiring an audience : and what took place with them, and how he
sent Ruy Gomes to the Xeque Ismael.
A few days before the time that the great Afonso Dalbo
querque had made his entry into the city of Goa, there had
arrived two ambassadors, the one from Xeque Ismael, and

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 107
the other from the King of Ormuz, each one by himself with
his embassy suite and his present of horses, and silk stuffs,
and gold, for the Cabaio. But whereas they found he was
dead, after the fall of the city, although it was the intention
of the ambassador who came frora Xeque Ismael to proceed
on his mission to the Hidalcao, the son of the Qabaio, accord
ing to the instructions he had received from his lord, never
theless, in that he was a discreet man and understood the
position of affairs, he took no notice of these instructions,
but sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque begging that he
would be pleased to grant him an audience. And when he
had obtained this permission, he came before him offering
the present he had brought, and told him that the Xeque
Ismael his lord, in consequence of the events which he had
heard regarding India, was desirous of maintaining a firm
friendship with the King of Portugal ; and whereas he had
been informed that his lordship, Afonso Dalboquerque, had
conquered the kingdom of Ormuz, he had therefore sent an
ambassador to visit him with a present of horses, pieces of
silver, and other valuables, but when the ambassador arrived
at Ormuz, he found him already set out on his expedition to
India, and the principal reason of his visit was the desire of
gaining information and appreciation from his lordship; and
if the King of Ormuz were unwilling to put himself under his
orders, he, Xeque Ismael, would send a very great army
against him in order to force him to do so ; for as for men,
both on horse and on foot, he would promise to supply as
many as could possibly be required, and that this and much
more the ambassador had been instructed to say to him at
Ormuz. Afonso Dalboquerque replied that, with respect to the
affairs at Ormuz, he looked upon them as settled, and that he
should not lose much time before he went there again, and
that he was determined from that point to enter the Red Sea;
and since the Xeque Ismael had always carried on war with

108 COMMENTARIES OP
the Turk and with the Grand Sultan of Cairo, it would be
very necessary to the success of this policy that he should be
in alliance with the King of Portugal his lord ; because,
apart from the supremacy over the Indian seas being In the
King's hands, the royal fleets also ride triumphant in the
Eastern Sea,^ and he wages war with the Turk and with
the Grand Sultan both on the one side and on the other.
And, he continued, provided that the Xeque Ismael were
desirous of confirming this friendly alliance with the King
his lord, and of sending his ambassadors to visit him, and
despatching his military forces against the house of Mdca,
there could be no doubt that the Turk and the Grand Sultan
would lose their important positions, for the King of Por
tugal was very powerful upon the sea, and could bring
iraraense fleets to the side of Xeque Ismael against them ;
and that for some time past he had been wishing to send an
ambassador to him, to offer to him the kingdom of India in
the name of the King his lord, but frora having a great
amount of business to transact he had omitted to do so, yet
now he would send such an one in his company.
Then the ambassador began to dilate upon the grandeur
of Xeque Ismael, and how very important a prince he was,
a raan of great fame, and desirous of extending his name
throughout all the countries of the world ; and, progress
ing with his reply, he proposed two things to Afonso Dal
boquerque. The first was, that he should prevail upon the
Moors of Goa to adopt the laws of Xeque Ismael, and per
form their devotions according to his book in their mosques.
The second, that he should issue an order for the coinage
of the Xeque Ismael to pass current in Goa. To this Afonso
Dalboquerque replied, that when the Moors surrendered to
him the -city of Goa, he had given them a royal safeguard
in the name of the King of Portugal that they should live
in liberty, and to put any compulsion upon them novv in
' Mar de levante.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 109
any matter, however small It were, would be in contraven
tion of the promises that he had given to thera, and a pro
cedure which was not practised by Christian sovereigns.
And, he continued, with regard to the currency of Xeque
Ismael's money in Goa, he was greatly astonished at their
entertaining the idea of such a thing, for kings were accus
tomed to value very highly their royal prerogatives, which
consisted In their people and their subjects living in obedi
ence to their laws, and in their coinage being received and
current throughout their kingdoms at such value as the
kings fixed upon it, and that a king would not on any con
sideration bring himself to permit any one to mint money
in his land.
The ambassador answered that he had come to Goa with
an embassy addressed to the Qabalo, and the instructions
which he brought ordered him to speak upon these points ;
but, as he found the Qab'aio dead, and his lordship Afonso
Dalboquerque in possession of the kingdom of Goa, he had
not exceeded his instructions in repeating to him the mes
sage of the Xeque his lord, for he was his ambassador ; but if
he had herein done anything wrong, he begged him of his
graciousness to forgive him, for the first duty of ambassadors
was to adhere faithfully to their instructions, and his duty in
this case was to do what was most to the service of his King.
And when this interview was concluded, the ambassador
begged he would despatch his affairs, for he was desirous of
setting out on his return journey.
Afonso Dalboquerque told him not to be annoyed, for he
desired to make ready a messenger to be sent In company
with him to the Xeque Ismael, and as soon as the ambassa
dor had betaken himself to his house again, Afonso Dalbo
querque sent word for the arabassador from the King of
Ormuz, and enquired of him the reason of his coming, and
what message it was that he brought for the ^abalo. The
ambassador told him that Cogeatar had sent him, and the

110 COMMENTAEIES OP
principal reason of his coming was to make an offer of the
whole of the estate of the King of Ormuz to the ^abalo, beg
ging of him assistance and co-operation against the Portu
guese ; and, relating to him how things had gone lately with
Ormuz, he told him not to be surprised or annoyed at the
conduct of Cogeatar, because the captains had been the
cause of all the dissensions that had sprung up between
them. When this interview was over that Afonso Dalboquerque
held with the ambassadors, he busied himself with despatch
ing without delay Ruy Gomez, the servant of King D.
Manuel — (he had been sent in banishment frora the King
dom of Portugal to India in the Marshal's fleet) — in order
to send him to Xeque Ismael in company with the Xeque's
ambassador, and through him he sent a letter to the Xeque,
and another to the King of 'Ormuz, which are given here In
full further ou, and he also delivered him instructions as to
what he should say to the Xeque Ismael on his part. And
this Ruy Gomez was accompanied by an interpreter and a
servant. As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had arranged all
the matters for the journey, he sent for the ambassador of
Xeque Ismael, and shewed him much respect in the king's
name, and then took his leave of them and gave them their
pass, and the two embarked in two ships, whereof the cap
tain and factor was Cogeamir, a noble Moor of Cananor,
whom he found In Goa, and whom the Rumes had enslaved
on the occasion of his coming in one of his ships from Ormuz
with a cargo of horses and saying that he held a permit to
navigate the Indian Sea from the King of Portugal and not
from the Grand Sultan. And by this man Afonso Dalbo
querque wrote a letter to Cogeatar, wherein he told him that
if he would return to the obedience of the King of Portugal
his Lord, and pay him the tribute which had been agreed
upon, past troubles should be forgotten; and he begged
him earnestly that this ambassador from Xeque Ismael

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. HI
should not be charged any duty upon his merchandize, and
that he would provide Ruy Gomez, whom he sent in the
position of an ambassador, with relays of horses, aud with
money and everything else that he or his should have need
of; and that he desired that the merchandise which Coa-ea- CD
mir carried with him— belonging to the King his Lord,
should be exchanged for horses ; and that the ships which
should sail from Orrauz to Goa should carry with thera his
signature to their papers, and all corae to Goa and no other
port, for unless they came there he would not hold them
free. LeTTEE which THE GEEAT ApONSO DALBOQUERQUE WROTE,
AND SENT BT RuY GoMEZ TO THB XeQUE IsMAEL.
"Very great and powerful Lord among the Moors, Xeque
Ismael : Afonso Dalboquerque, Captain-General and Go
vernor of India, in behalf of the very high and verv
powerful King D. Manuel, King of Portugal and of the
Algarves on this side and on that side of the sea, in Africa
Lord of Guinea, and of the conquest, navigation, and com
merce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, and of the
Kingdom and Lordship of Ormuz, and of the Kingdom
and Lordship of Goa : I give you to know that when
I captured the city and kingdora of Goa, I found therein
your ambassador, to whom I shewed great honour, treat
ing him as ambassador of so great a King and Lord, and
I looked to all his affairs just as if he had been sent to
these parts to the King of Portugal. And whereas I am
informed that the King D. Manuel, my Lord, would be
pleased to have an understanding and alliance and inter
course with you ; therefore I send to you this present mes
senger to whom you are to give credit in respect of all
things which he shall relate to you on my behalf, for he Is a
knight and servant of the King my Lord, a man well-versed

112 COMMENTAEIES OP
in military matters, bred up in arms according to our cus
tom, and of all the affairs of the kingdom of Portugal he
will be competent to give you a very good account.
"Tou are well-informed how it was that I gained the city
and kingdom of Ormuz in accordance with the command
of the King, my Lord, and how from that time forward I
strove to gain information concerning your estate, power,
and command, and desired to send messengers to you, if
the business of Ormuz had not miscarried, which I hope to
God will soon be re-established, for I am In expectation of
going thither in person, and thence I will endeavour to have
an interview with you on the coast of the sea and harbours
of your kingdom ; for the powers which I carry from the
King my Lord, of ships and mariners, are for destroying and
casting out the ships of the Sultan that may enter India and
desire therein to establish themselves — which deed, with
the help of God, we have brought to pass, for the Sultan's
captain, Mirocem, and his fleet were routed at Diu,^ and all
his ships and artillery taken, and all his people killed, and
' Concerning this important event in the history of the Portuguese in
India, spoken of in the early chapters of this Second Part of the Com
mentaries, Camoes contains the following passage : —
" Quai o touro cioso, que se ensaia
Para a crua peleja, os cornos tenta
No tronco d'hum carvalho, ou alta faia,
E o ar ferindo, as for(;as exprimenta :
Tal, antes que no seio de Cambaia
Entre Francisco irado, na opulenta
Cidade de Dabul a espada afla,
Ahabcando-lhe a tumida ousadia.
" E logo, entrando fera na enseada
De Dio, illustre em cercos e batalhas
Fara espalhar a fraca e grande armada
De Calecut, que remos tem por malhas :
A de Melique Yaz acautelada,
Co'os pelouros que tu, Vulcano, espalhas,
Fard ir ver o frio e fundo assento,
Secreto leito do humido elemento.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 113
now I have put them to flight and gained the city of Goa
and all its fleet and cast all the enemy out of it, as your
ambassador will relate to you.
"And whereas I have been informed that he is your
enemy and makes war upon you, I send you this news,
offering to you for employment against him my person and
fleet, and the men of the King my Lord, to help to destroy
him, and I will be against him whensoever you shall require
this of me. And if you desire to destroy the Sultan by
land, you can reckon upon great assistance from the Armada
of the King my Lord by sea, and I believe that with small
trouble you must gain the lordship of the city of Cairo, and
all his kingdom and dependencies, and thus the King my
Lord can give you great help by sea against the Turk, and thus
his fleets by sea and you with your great forces and cavalry
by land can combine to inflict troublous injuries upon them.
" And in India he has great fleets wherewith he can help
you. And thus you will gather that you ought to desire to
obtain aUiance and co-operation with so great a king as
is -the King my Lord by sea and by land, and you ought to
send him your ambassadors, for he will be very glad to see
any one who is competent to give an account of your king
doms and your dependencies. And if God grant that this
intercourse and alliance be ratified, come you with all your
power against the city of Cairo and the lands of the Grand
Sultan which are on the borders of your own, and the King
my Lord shall pass over to Jerusalem and gain from him all
" Mas a de Mir-Hocem, que, abalroando,
A furia esperard dos vingadores.
Vera bracos, e pernas ir nadando,
Sem corpos, pelo mar, de sens senhores :
Kaios de fogo irao representando
No cego ardor os bravos domadores :
Quanto alii sentirao olhos, e ouvidos,
He fumo, ferro, flammas, e alaridos."
Lusiada, x, 34-36.

114 COMMENTARIES OP
the land on that side. And for the sake of correct informa
tion with respect to your intentions in this matter, it is be
fitting that you should send your messengers, and through
them get a reply from the King my Lord, and meanwhile
let me be advised of what you wish me to do, or in what
quarter the fleet of the King my Lord can proceed and in
flict most injury upon the Sultan for your service."
InSTEUCTIONS which THE GEEAT ApONSO DALBOQUEEQUE GAVE
TO Rut Gomez, concerning that which he was to sat
TO THE Xeque Ismael.
"First of all your journey Is to be made by whatever
method and manner that . you can well perform it, direct to
the place where the Xeque Ismael may be ; and on your
arrival before him you shall do him that reverence which is
diie to so great a king and prince.
" On your arrival at Ormuz you shall send a requisition
to Cogeatar to supply you with the relays of horses that you
require, and a requisition to him to give you all things
necessary for your expenses, and for the despatch of your
journey, in accordance with the advice which I have for
warded to him in my letters.
" In the journey which you are thus about to prosecute,
you shall be ever under the orders, advice, and disposition
of the Ambassadors of the Xeque Ismael in whose company
you go, nor shall you ever detach yourself from him to go
and see cities, strongholds, towns, streets, festivals, or
games, nor shall you follow any other route than that which
he takes, but be in all things under his orders, for you well
know how the Moors desire to inflict upon us all the loss
they can.
" You shall say to the Xeque Ismael, on my behalf, that
I send this visitation to him on account of the greatness of
his fame, lordship, and influence, and on account of the

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 115
good and great quahties which he personally possesses, and
also because he shelters the Christians, and shews favour
and honour towards them.
"You shall tell him how my Lord will be pleased to come
to an understanding and alliance with him, and will assist
him in his war against the Sultan ; and that I, in his name
and on his behalf, offer him the fleet, and army, and artillery
which I have with me, and the fortresses, towns, and lord
ships which the King of Portugal holds in India, and I will
give hira all this sarae help against the Turk.
" You will tell him that when he rises up and attacks the
house of Meca, and is desirous of obtaining possession of it,
I will enter the Red Sea and make my way to the harbour
of Juda^ with my fleet, aud I will do likewise when he de
sires to go over the land of Arabia and Adem, and over the
sea on the coast of Arabia, Bahrem,^ and Catife,^ and the
city of Ba(5ora ;* and I will overrun all the coasts of the
Persian Sea where I can come and see him ; and I will do
everything that I can for hira.
" You will describe to him the greatness of the King ray
Lord, and of his kingdoms and dominions, and the extent of
their richness and abundance ; and speak of the greatness
and beauty of the city of Lisbon, the edifices and costly
houses that it contains, and of the great quantity and stores
of silver, and gold, and riches, and number of people that
are contained in the kingdora ; and how the King my Lord
has two gold mines which yield him every year a great
• See vol. i, p. 234, note 2, and the site of the " Cidade de luda" on
Berthelot's chart, vol. i, p. 80.
'-' Baharem or Barem, "huma Ilha de Ormuz, onde se pesca o aljofar".
See Cam. Lus., x, 41, quoted in vol. i, p. 64, note ; probably the Bah
rein or Aval Islands, 26 deg. 10 min. N., 50 deg. 35 min. E.
' El-katifE, on the western side of the Persian gulf, 26 deg. 32 min.
N., 50 deg, 8 min. E.
* Bassorah, or Basra, in Irak-Arabi, Turkey in Asia, 30 deg. 31 min.
N., 47 deg. 53 min. E.

116 COMMENTARIES OP
quantity of precious metal ; and you will relate to him the
abundance of the ships that belong to the kingdom, their
greatness, and the large fleets which he prepares every year
for India ; and how his fleets and subjects sail all over the
world; and that he sends fleets to the East against the
Turks, " You will tell him how the King my Lord has acquired
many towns, cities, and villages by force of arms in Africa ;
and how his power and dominion are rapidly progressing all
along the sea-coast down to the Cape of Good Hope, and
from that point inwardly as one enters the sea of India ;
and you will speak of the fortresses that are contained in
this region, and the kings that are therein subject to his
supreme authority.
" You will, moreover, tell him of the Queen my Sovereign
Lady ; whose daughter she is,^ and how the king her father,
and the queen, her mother, hold their kingdoms and domi
nions which border upon the kingdom of Portugal : and in
this manner you will give him an account of her estate, and
of the maids of honour who minister to her, that they are
daughters of dukes, marquesses, and counts of Portugal ;
and how they appear clothed in brocades and cloth of gold,
and in all sorts of different coloured silks, and adorned with
much jewelry, and that on passing from the service of the
queen, these maids are married to the grandees of the king
dom. " You will mention the household estate of the king my
Lord, how he is served, and in what manner he eats at his
high table of four degrees, while all the great lords and
fidalgos who frequent his court, stand at the table with their
• King Manoel, or Emmanuel " The Fortunate", married Maria of
Castile, daughter of Ferdmand the Catholic, King of Aragon, and Isa
bella of Casj;ile, in 1500. She was born in 1482 and died in 1517, and
was the second wife of King Manoel who had previously married her
elder sister, Isabella of Aragon.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 117
caps removed from their heads until he has finished his
repast and retired.
" You will tell him that he ought to send an ambassador
to the King my Lord, with a view to procuring aUiance
and assistance, not only with regard to the war against
his enemies, but also in the matter of the merchandise
which can be sent into Persia from the kingdora of Portugal
by way of Ormuz ; and the King wUl help him against the
Sultan, and against the Turk, by sea and by land, pro
vided that he on his part will send to solicit his aUiance,
co-operation, and assistance.
" You will not omit to make mention to hira of our
Faith, and observe what his opinions are in this matter,
and if he receives you well ; and what you say to him in
this respect shall not be more than what can be said
without giving him any offence ; and you will gather from
the Christians of those parts if they practise the rites of our
Faith, and believe truly that Our Lord was born of Our
Lady, and died, and suffered on the Cross to save us ; and
you will take notice if any of these Christians exercise
rites different in any way to ours, in the practice of their
Faith ; and see you if you can manage to bring some one
of them back with you, that he may go to Rome to the Holy
Father. " You will inspect their churches and the ornaments
therein, the altars, images, and saints ; noting if they have
Our Lord upon the Cross, and the image of Our Lady,
and observing the manner of life among the friars and
clergy, and their habits, and if there exist in this land any
relics of the bodies of saints, martyrs, and apostles.
" You will relate to him i&inutely all the nature of the
state of the King my Lord (although in a previous clause I
have instructed you to touch but lightly upon these matters) ;
nevertheless you will give him a detailed account of the
greatness of the King of Portugal's feasts, the riches and

118 COMMENTAEIES OP
brilliancy of his household officers and of his court, the
beauty of his palace wherein they live ; and of the expense
of his feasts, and the treasures, precious stones, pearls, and
jewels, that they wear of various fashions ; and of the grand-
ness of his Court and of the mounted soldiers who are con
tinually going up and down on guard therein ; and of the
Ambassadors of the Kings his neighbours who are ever
coming to his Court ; and of all other particular matters
which he may desire to hear of from you.
" You will tell him and assure him how loyally and truly
affected towards their Lord the Portuguese are ; and this
you shall perform in such a manner that the Xeque may
desire earnestly and endeavour to acquire the alliance, as
sistance, and co-operation of the King my Lord, and may.
so be minded to take upon hlgiself entirely the obligation
and good will of doing likevyise whenever he shall be called
upon to do so, either by request of the King himself or by
that of the Captain General, made in his name.
" You will also give him an account ofthe power, and fleet,
and men, and arms, and artillery which I have under my
orders in India ; and also the great quantity of artillery and
its extent which the King my Lord has in his kingdom ;
and you wiU relate to him how the soldiers of Portugal
march on horseback, and teU him of the trappings of silver
and gold, the saddles and caparisons which they have on
their horses, and also of their military arrangements and
briUiant appearance, and how the men-at-arms march, and
the fashion and manner of their arms.
" I command you that both you and the interpreter whom
you have with you do minutely read these instructions, and
you are to adjust your account with that of the interpreter
in such a manner that there be no discrepancy in the rela
tions which you are to deliver in respect of aU these matters,
but that you be ever unanimous and act in conformity with
my letter which I write to him."

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 119
LeTTEE WHICH THE Geeat Aponso Dalboqueeque WEOTE
TO THE King op Oemuz.
"Most honourable King Celfadin, Abenadar, King of
Ormuz, in the name of the most high and most mighty D.
Manuel, King of Portugal and of the Algarves, on this side
and on that side of the sea ; in Africa Lord of Guinea, and
of the Conquest, Navigation, [and] Comraerce of Ethiopia,
Arabia, Persia, and of India, and of the kingdom and do
minion of Ormuz, and of the kingdom and dominion of
Goa; I, Afonso Dalboquerque, Captain-General and Gover
nor of India for the King D. Manuel my Lord, send you
my greetings. Herein Goa I met with your messenger, and
treated him with honour and befitting entertainment, out of
my love for you. My departure frora Cochim with the
King's fieet was that I might make my way to your city of
Ormuz to establish there a factory, and place therein
certain persons whom the King has comraissioned. You
are to know that the Rumes prepared a fleet in Goa, but I
came up against the city and captured it, and cast them out
of it, and took all their fleet and artillery. If I can come
and pass the winter with you in Ormuz, I will come ; I
have ordered a large quantity of provisions to be made
ready against the arrival of the men composing my fleet,
who are very numerous ; I have forgiven and forgotten all
that is past ; I am your great friend ; Cogeamir is going
to you, he carries these two ships of the King my Lord,
laden with his merchandise ; I shall be glad If he is recog
nised and well greeted by you, as well as these messengers
whom I send to you with a message from the King to the
Xeque Ismael. I send my recommendations to you, and to
your father and to your mother. Be weU assured that in
aU your dealings I wdl assist you always like a true friend.
Done at Goa, on the twentieth of March, 1510."
As soon as Ruy Gomez and Cogeamir arrived at Ormuz

120 COMMENTAEIES OF
they delivered the letters and messages which they carried
from Afonso Dalboquerque to Cogeatar, who showed great
attention and consideration towards Ruy Gomez. And
after enquiring particularly of him after the present
state of Afonso Dalboquerque, how he was, and after
the state of affairs at Goa, he told him to retire to
his lodging to get over the discomforts of the sea voyage,
for he would set him on his returp journey without delay.
But, inasmuch as this same Cogeatar was still actuated with
hatred towards Afonso Dalboquerque, — not only because of
the favour which the Viceroy had shewn to him, but also
because Duarte de Lemos, who occupied the position of
chief captain of that coast, had apprised him that the King,
D. Manuel, had not been pleased at the destruction which
had been wrought upon that coast, and also because he
was annoyed at the fresh alliance which Afonso Dalboquer
que desired to enter Into with the Xeque Ismael, — instead of
remitting the dues in the case of the ambassador, he laid to
his charge whatever he chose, and carried off from him as
much as he carried : and he planned matters so that they
killed Ruy Gomez by poison. When the servants saw that
Ruy Gomez was dead, they made their way back to India,
and Cogeamir continued to unload his ships and gathered
together his merchandise and then returned to India, but
did not go near Goa, as wiU be related hereafter. And thus
it was that this embassy bore no fruit; and afterwards Afonso
Dalboquerque sent Miguel Ferreira as ambassador to Xeque
Ismael with this same set of instructions which he had given
to Ruy Gomez, and in its proper place an account of his
journey will be given.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 121

CHAPTER XXIV.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered Francisco Pantoja to pro
vide the fortress of (^acotorS, with supplies, and what passed herein
with Duarte de Lemos respecting a ship which he captured on the
way.
On the departure of the ambassadors, the great Afonso
Dalboquerque despatched Francisco Pantoja to the fortress
of Qocotora (for he had not received any news for a long
time from D. Afonso, his nephew, the captain of the fortress,)
with a ship laden with supplies : and through him he wrote
and forwarded a letter to Duarte de Lemos, wherein he in
formed him that he had set out for Cochim with his fleet,
with the intention of uniting himself to his (Duarte's)
forces, in accordance with what he had before written and
sent through Diogo Correa ; but that when he had pro
gressed on his voyage as far as Onor, Timoja had come up
with him, and in consequence of the intelligence that the
latter had given him with respect to the condition that Goa
was in; and because the city could be captured without
much trouble or peril to his men, he had altered his plans
and gone up against the city and gained possession of it,
more by the divine favour of Our Lord than by human force f
and that he was now employed in strengthening its fortifi
cations with an intention of maintaining them, because hewas
strongly of opinion that such a policy of maiutenance would
redound greatly to the service of the Kingof Portugal. But,
he added, as soon as all this was arranged, he would come
with a powerful fleet to fulfil the promises he had made.
And he also commanded Francisco Pantoja that, if it so
fell out that Duarte de Lemos were in Ormuz, he should
proceed thither to see him, and if he had any money in
hand from the receipt of the tribute, that he should send
it on to him, Afonso Dalboquerque, because he was very

122 COMMENTAEIES OP
much in want of it on account of the expenses connected
with the building of the fortress — (for the King, D. Manuel,
had ordered Duarte de Lemos to assist Afonso Dalboquerque
by every manner of means, and that the government of
Ormuz was to be under obedience to his commands, as he
would see by the letter which he sent him). And Afonso
Dalboquerque further ordered Francisco Pantoja to say to
D. Afonso [de Noronha], his nephew, if indeed he had not
already set out on his voyage, that he was to come at once,
because the King had sent word that he was to be appointed
captain of Cananor, and Pero Ferreira, who was at Quiloa,
to remain behind as captain in the fortress of Qacotora, as
he would have seen in the provisional instructions which had
been forwarded through Diogo Correa.
Francisco Pantoja, after he had set out on his journey,
was crossing over the great Indian Gulf towards Qacotora,
when he came upon a ship belonging to the King of Cam
baya, which was called Meri} and proceeding on its voy
age laden with merchandise for Meca — a vessel of about six
hundred tons, whose captain was a noble Moor of Cambaya,
named Alicao.^ And, although the Moor trusted in his nu
merous and stout men that he had on board, and put him
self in an attitude of defending his ship with the object of
ag-ving the lives and property of all, nevertheless our party
attacked them and fought so valiantly that the enemy sur
rendered and their ship was taken. And with this prize
Francisco Pantoja sailed straight away to Qacotor4, where
he found Duarte de Lemos who had come thither but a
few days before from Mehnde with four ships, in expectation
of Afonso Dalboquerque's arrival, in order to accompany him
1 This appears to have been a common name for a ship among the
Arabs ; for the description of another ship so called, captured by the
Portuguese at Ormuz, see vol. i, pp. 113-115.
^ This name seems to be the Portuguese translation of the name
All-Khan,.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 123
in his entry of the Straits, according to the message which
had come to him ; and he found also Pero Ferreira acting
as captain of the Fort S. Miguel, for D. Afonso de Noronha
had sailed away in April last to India.
As soon as Francisco Pantoja had arrived and delivered
his letters from Afonso Dalboquerque to Duarte de Lemos,
the latter, observing the valuable nature of the ship, ordered
him to deliver it up to the factory, and he would thereupon
give orders to pay to him and his men whatever their share
of the prize should amount to. But Francisco Pantoja being
angered at this arbitrary proceeding, on the part of Duarte
de Lemos towards him, said that he did not belong to his
division but to that of Afonso Dalboquerque, who was Cap
tain-General of all those parts, and to hira alone would it be
right that he should deliver the ship ; and hereupon he made
a great show of remonstrance. But Duarte de Lemos did
not desist from his demands, for he replied that he himself
was the chief captain of those parts, and since the prize had
been captured in waters subject to his jurisdiction, it there
fore fell to him to superintend the management and distri
bution, of the property; and without caring to hear any
more about the matter, he gave orders to discharge the
cargo, and took for himself all the share which belonged
to Afonso Dalboquerque, without holding any ceremony with
Francisco Pantoja, nor giving him anything of that which
properly should have come to his share.
And having done thi.s, and considering that Afonso Dalbo
querque could no longer that season come to join forces with
hira, by reason of the successful operations at Goa, he made
up his mind to spend no more time in waiting, but to make
his way to India; and the more so because he had lost
two ships, and the four which remained were so much out
•of repair that they could no longer render any service to the
King in those parts. Therefore;*after taking supphes and
water he took leave of Pero Ferreira, captain of the fortress,

124 COMMENTAEIES OP
and set sail, carrying with him Francisco Pantoja in his
company, and the ship Meri : and without any adventures
happening by the way, he reached Cananor on the last day
of August, where he found Afonso Dalboquerque, who had
arrived there from Goa but a few days before him, as will
be related further on.

CHAPTER XXV.

Of the agreement which the great Afonso Dalboquerque entered into
with Timoja and the principal men of the country, concerning the
dues they would be required to pay each year, and how at their re
quest he ordered coin to be struck.
After that Francisco Pantoja had sailed away, Timoja
proceeded to the great Afonso Dalboquerque with the prin
cipal men and nobles of the land, as well Moors as Hindoos;
and they told him that, in order that the course of things
in Goa should remain in the same order and ancient custom
in which they had always been hitherto, it would be neces
sary that all should understand the method which they were
to practise in regard to the payment of dues. For, they
alleged, the Qabaio, after he had become Lord of the king
dom of Goa, had doubled the amount of taxes, at which pro
ceeding every one had been annoyed, and on this account
many Hindoos had gone away to settle in divers parts ; for
anciently they used to pay a hundred and fifty thousand
xerafins ;^ but afterwards the Qabaio had doubled this tax ;
and that they were afraid lest his Lordship, following this
practice which he had found them labouring under, should
obhge them still to pay this increased taxation ; and that
they begged him of his kindness to endeavour to arrange
' For the value of the xerafm, see vol. i, p. 82, note; 160,000 xerafins
= (300 X 150,000 =) 45,000,000'rei4' = 45,000 milreis or dollars = £9,375
English money, and a very considerable sum in the years of this history.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 125
this matter in such a manner that the people might be able
to get their living, and yet pay something : for it was but
reasonable to expect, now they had become the servants of
so great a king as the King of Portugal was, that they
should enjoy more liberty, in some respects, than they had
hitherto possessed, when they lived under the rule of the
Qabalo, a tyrant who had been ill-disposed towards them.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that his coming to Goa was
not with the intention of visiting upon them the tyrannies
of the HldalcS-o, but on the contrary to shew favour towards
them, and to honour them, and to give thera Increased
means of living, provided that they, on their part, were
willing to be true and loyal vassals of the King of Portugal,
their Lord. And upon the condition that they would will
ingly remain in this obedience, he, on his part, would remit
to them, in the name of the king, the taxes which the
Qabaio had recently imposed upon them, and they should
pay henceforth only as much as they had been accustomed
to pay to the lords of the kingdom of Goa when they were
of the Hindoo dynasties ; but this remission should be in
force only as long as they were in subjection to the King of
Portugal and to his Governors of India. But that in case
they should ever be called upon by any Governor of India
and not respond to the call immediately, having no good
grounds of excuse for such remissness, then they should be
obliged to pay the same taxes that they had paid to the
^abaio. Timoja and the others received, in the name of the people,
the lands with these conditions that Afonso Dalboquerque
laid down ; but it had also to be stipulated that he should
appoint over them a Tanadar,^ and Hindoos to govern them.
¦ Tanadar : Thdndddr, Hindostani ; Thdneddr, Mar£ithi and 6uzar4-
thi. Bluteau considers this oflicer equivalent to Qugestor supremtis, or
Qusestorum maximus; and translates it by Almox'arife, receiver of im
posts, superintendent of royal demesnes. Wilson explains this word

126 COMMENTAEIES OP
Afonso Dalboquerque told them that he would promise not
to appoint any Moor to the office of Tanadar, and he would
give orders that the taxes should be collected by Portuguese
in combination with certain Hindoos of the land to be ap
pointed by Timoja, in order that everything should be done
with least oppression of the people. And after having thus
arranged the matter with them, Afonso Dalboquerque com
manded that an oath should be administered to them, ac
cording to their heathen manner, that they would account
for these taxes with him or the Governor of India for the
time being ; and he ordered that two pacharins ^ should bo
given to each one, for it was an ancient custom in the land
to give these to these Hindoos.
On the conclusion of this business, Afonso Dalboquerque
gave them permission to return to their houses and com
mence the collection of the taxes, according to the local
registers of the lands. And they desired him to appoint
over them certain TaMadares, who have the same office as
our Almoxarifes,^ to collect the revenue, and dispense justice
among them. In order to content them, Afonso Dalbo
querque nominated Bras Vieira over them as Tanadar of
CIntacor4, and Gasper Chanoca to act as his secretary, and
over all the other offices of Tanadar he appointed for them,
thus : — " An oflicer in charge of a Thdnd, formerly, an officer under the
Faujddr (criminal judge or magistrate), employed, with a smaU irregu
lar force, iu protecting the country and enforcing payment of the
revenue." The Thdnd was "a military post, or garrison, a place,
sometimes with a small fort, where a petty officer, with a small irregular
force, was posted to protect the country, preserve the peace, and to aid
in making the collections.''
» Pacharim. I am unable to fix the signification of this word with
any satisfactory degree of certainty ; but it probably refers to a sum of
money. 2 Almoxarife; the obsolete forms are ahnosarifa, and almozarife, a
receiver of customs and imposts. Arabic, almoshrif, inspector.— See
Engelmann's " Glossaire des mots . . . Portugais derives de I'Arabe",
particularly the edition enlarged by Dozy.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 127
as Tanadares, a number of honourable men, servants of the
King, in whom he had complete confidence, to execute
justice among thera. And he ordered Timoja to appoint to
each of these officers a Hindoo scrivener in order to show
them the method to be pursued in collecting the revenue ;
and to each Tanadar he told off two hundred peons of the
country to accompany them and carry out the instructions
of their masters in the collection of the revenue. And
he sent Joao Alvarez de Caminha, who was a very honour
able man and possessed great authority, in order to set
those things in action as they should be carried on,
and to put them into working order; and to repose in
him a confidence with regard to other greater matters ;
and to be his scrivener Antonio Fragoso was appointed ;
and a Hindoo servant of Timoja to show him the register-
books of the lauds, how they were held in separate occupa
tion, in order that there should be no dishonesty. And
Jo§,o Alvarez de Caminha managed everything in such a
manner that everybody was well pleased. The Hindoos who
had fled out of Goa returned to their original dwelling
places in the land immediately that they perceived that
Afonso Dalboquerque had remitted to them a moiety of
the dues which they had been accustomed to pay to the
Cabaio, and had appointed natives over them to govern
them. As soon as Joao Alvarez de Caminha had gone with all
the Tanadares to set thera in their places throughout the
lands, in accordance with the instructions contained in his
papers, Timoja went, in company with certain principal
Moors and Hindoos of the country, to Afonso Dalboquerque,
and told him that the people of the city and the merchants
were sufferli^g from a great depression, not only in the govern
ment thereof, but also with respect to the merchant trade, be
cause there was no currency qf coin. And they begged he
would of his graciousness grant a permission for coining some

128 COMMENTAEIES OP
money, because it was impossible for the city to be well
governed without a currency of coinage ; and they alleged
that he ought to order the price of gold and silver to be
raised in order to prevent their exportation.
So Afonso Dalboquerque called a meeting of the captains,
and laid open to them the matters which Timoja and the
deputation of merchants had requested him in the name of
the people to put into effect. And the captains, after de
bating upon the affair, unanimously agreed that the coinage
of some money should be commenced. But Afonso Dalbo
querque replied, that he was quite convinced by the reasons
which Timoja gave, that it would be good to mint some
money ; yet, seeing that this was a novel proceeding, and
one that had never before taken place in India, he would
not venture to do so without first writing to the King his
Lord, who should herein provide as best for his service, and
thereupon he dismissed them.
However, after a few days had elapsed, Timoja returned,
bringing with him the others who had formerly accompanied
him, to discuss the previous requests that had been made,
and, in presence of the captains, he begged earnestly that
Afonso Dalboquerque would either give orders for the coin
age of some money, because everything was going to ruin
from want of it, and barter of merchandise could not be
effected, or at least that he would permit the coinage of the
Qabaio to pass current. The captains, after hearing the
reasonable arguments which Timoja made in favour of the
issue of a new currency, and hstening to the relation of
the inconveniences which resulted frora the want of it,
agreed to what they had said in the first assembly. So
Afonso Dalboquerque, on consideration that the King of
Portugal would hereby gain credit, renown, and profit, and
that the kingdom was in his hands, agreed to give permis
sion for minting money, and tq write to the King respecting
the circurastances of the case. And In order that the

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 129
money should bo produced, in a befitting style, he called a
meeting of the goldsmiths and some Portuguese experts
whom he had with him, and Timoja and the principal men
of the city, and coramanded them to make a trial of the
silver of the Moors, and every one found that it was of the
same intrinsic value as our own. When this trial was con
cluded Afonso Dalboquerque appointed Tristao D^ga to be
treasurer of the mint, and gave orders forthwith for the
coinage of money in silver, and gold, and copper ; and on
the one side they were to stamp a cross of [the order] of
Christus,! and on the other a sphere, — the device of the
King D. Manuel,^ — and the silver coin was to be equivalent.
in weight to a bragani,^ — which Is a Moorish weight equal
to two vintens* Portuguese, and these he called spheres;^
and he raade another kind, which were sraaller, and weighed
one vintem, and these he called half -spheres,^ and the cop
per moneys he called leaes ;^ and thp other sraaller copper
moneys, of which- three' went to the leal, he called din-
' For the shape of this Cross, which resembles the heraldic Cross pattee,
see the work on Portuguese Numismatics by Fernandes, cited below,
note 5.
2 " Teve El Rey D. Manoel por empreza a Esfera, que vulgarmente se
chamava entao Espera." — Manoel Severim de Faria, Noticias de Portugal,
p. 186.
' Bragani: Cf. Bargan, or burgun, Hindostani; a partition, or share.
* Vintem, a penny, or twenty reis (vinte= twenty), of which fifty go to
the dollar (milreis = one-thousand reis), or 4s. 2d. The English sovereign
is equal to 48 dollars =240 vintens = 4:800 reis.
' Esperas. These copper coins, called here Esperas, and Meas Esperas,
i.e., spheres and half-spheres, must not be confounded with the gold
coins called Esfera, struck by King Manoel, which on the one side had
the device of a sphere, on the other the Latin inscription Mea, intending
thereby to show that the sphere which King John II had given him for
a device had been by him acquired by the glorious acquisition to the
Portuguese Crown- in the discovery and conquest of India and Brazil.
See also a work by Manoel Bernardes Lopes Fernandes, in the " Memo
rias da Academia Keal das Sciencias de Lisboa", 2a Classe, 1856, p. 121.
' Meas Esperas. ' Leaes, the plural form of leal.

130

COMMENTAEIES OP

heiros;^ and in order that the gold coins should not be taken
away out of the country, he ordered that the cruzados should
be taken as equal to seventeen braganis.^ And when these
matters had been arranged, the coining of the money was
commenced, and as soon as a large quantity had been made,
on the twelfth of March, in the year one thousand five hun
dred and ten, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered that all the
captains should be called together, with the fidalgoes and
cavaliers, and all the noble persons of the fleet, and all the
principal merchants among the Moors, and the Hindoo chi--
tins;^ and when these had assembled tdgether in a large hall
» Dinheiros; denarii, Lat.; deniers, Fr.; Dinheiro is tbe generic name
for all kinds of money, but in this case was evidently attributed to a
certain very small coin.
2 In order to put this novel system of coinage more clearly before the
reader, I have constructed the following table. Very good notices on
this coinage will be found in "Noticias de Portugal escritas por Manoel
Severim de Faria", Lisbon, 8vo, 1791, tom. ii, pp. 68-72 ; and the work
of Manoel Bernardes Lopes Fernandes mentioned in a previous note.
The coins themselves are so rare, that they -may almost be described as
no longer extant, for this writer does not figure any of them.

POETUGrESE.

Goi MOWEY.

MOOEISH.

S: •
o
o
1 Vintem = f
fti
CO
2 Vintens . = '-
[34 Vintenq g )

Dinheiro, the smallest coin.
3 Dinheiros = 1 Leal, perhaps
an adaptation of the word
real, rial, or rei to Indian
mouths ; if so, twenty went
to the vintem.
1 half Espera, or Blea Espera.
1 Espera .....
= 1 Cruzado ....
But cf. vol. i, p. 17, n. 1, forthe
Portuguese values of this coin.

= 1 BraganL
= 17 Braganis.

Chitins. " Chitti, or Chetti, more correctly Sethi, and corruptly
Chitty. All members of the trading castes in the Madras provinces,
either shopkeepers or merchants." — Wilson.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 131
of the Qabaio's palace (wherein he used to live), that had been
especially decorated for this occasion, Afonso Dalboquerque
told them that he had given orders to mint silver and cop
per coinage, according to the arrangement that had been
made, and in order to make the matter quite public it had
been necessary to order proclamation to Tie made to every
one of them throughout the city (for this was the native
custom that used to be practised in the lands which the
kings gained anew), for them to say if he should do so.
And all declared that to them it appeared good that this
should be done, since there were no other reasons to the
contrary about it. And then, at this unanimous expression
of favourable opinion, Afonso Dalboquerque immediately
gave the word to take the royal flag, and the trumpets and
kettledrums, and assemble all the men in the fleet, and or
dered Tristao D^ga to go and proclaim it ; and he went
with aU this company of people all round the city, and at each
proclamation that was made they scattered quantities of
the new money over the heads of the crowds, which were
great, and they went on proceeding in this manner all
round the city.
As soon as this proceeding was over, Afonso Dalboquerque
commanded that proclamation should be made, in the name
of the King of Portugal, that no one from that day hencefor
ward, under severe penalties, should keep any of the coinage
of the ^S'baio ip his house, nor make any use of it, but who
ever had any should carry it to the Mint, and there it should
be exchanged for him with that of the King of Portugal ;
and whoever should break these regulations should incur
legal penalties according as he Afonso Dalboquerque should
think fit to impose upon him. The people were very much
pleased with the money, and from that day henceforward
they began to trade with their merchandise.

132 COMMENTAEIES OP

CHAPTER XXVI.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque made ready to winter in Goa, and
sent Diogo Fernandes from Beja to the fortress of CintS,cora.
Inasmuch as the great Afonso Dalboquerque had made
up his mind to maintain Goa and fortify his position therein,
he determined, before winter should become more settled, to
provide hiraself with all things necessary for that undertaking;
and issued immediate orders for collecting together all the
supplies that could be found. And all the horses that re
mained Inthe land were placedin some large stableswhich the
Qabaio had erected in the fortress, wherein forraerly they used
to place the horses which the dealers brought from Ormuz to
sell. And for this purpose the Qabalo used to have a Xaban
dar} whose office corresponds to that o{ Almoxarife da ribeira,
[superintendent receiver of the royal import dues,] whose
duty it was to look to the care of the horses, and the people
were obliged to bring hay, and corn, and mungd^, which is
a certain species of seed that they feed the horses with, in
abundance. And to this Xabandar, in union with other
Moors on which this charge devolved, Afonso Dalboquerque
gave orders to look to the provender of these horses, ahd
to see to all the other matters relatino' to the coast, with
the intention of proceeding with his management of the
affairs of Goa in the manner of his ordinances and govern
ment. ' Xabandar ; a consul for merchants, a resident for affairs relating to
commerce and trade. — J'ieyra. From the text, it is evident that this
officer is the Zemindar of the Indian continent, iu his more ordinary
capacity of responsible collector only of the revenues on behalf of the
Government under the Mohammedan administration rather than as
hereditary owner of the land he occupies. AVilson (pp. 562, 563) gives
a concise account of this officer's position and duties.
^ ' Mungo ; a sort of pulse much used by the natives of India as an ar
ticle of food. It ia the Phaseolus mungo of Linnaeus ; cf. Mung, or Mug,
Hindostani.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 133
And seeing that the beginning of April was now come-^
when the winter commences in those parts, — Afonso Dalbo
querque desired, before any more time should elapse, to
acquaint the King of Cochim and the captain of the fortress
and the officers of the factory, that he had made up his mind
to pass the winter in Goa and complete the fortress that
he had commenced, and that they must Bend him all
•the saddles they had among them, and certain stores.
Francisco SerrSo set out immediately in a caravela [with
this message], but he never went back with any reply :
it appears that it was fear that prevented him from re
turning, although he gave it as an excuse that he was
unable to get back on account of the weather } but Afonso
Dalboquerque would not accept the excuse . at his hands,
and when the events at Goa had gone by, and the expedi
tion was returning to Cochim, he deprived him of the cap
taincy of his caravela and ordered him to be placed under
arrest. After Francisco SerrSo had set out, Afonso Dalboquerque
observing that the work' of coining the new money progressed
very slowly, and did not suffice for the demand upon it for
the wages of the servants who were employed in the work of
the fortress, nor for the maintenance of the fleet, at the rate
of a cruzado a month, ordered the captains to provide food
each one for his own people, and this he did for two reasons.
The first reason was, because he had a large store of pro
visions now in the city and by means of them he could provide
against this outlay, which otherwise could not be kept up
at the rate of payment of a cruzado a month to every man,
because the moneyers could not coin sufficient amounts
to meet all demands. The second reason was, that he had
been notified of the coming of the Hidalqao, and desired
to have all the men close by to withstand any attack that
might be made upon them.
' Por amor dos tempos.

134 COMMENTARIES OP
The captains were, however, tired with the labour that
they had to undergo in constructing the fortress — for each
one had his time of service arranged wherein he had to be
at work with his men, — and were now desirous of going and
taking their pleasure at Cochim ; and also of shifting off
their shoulders the additional trouble that would arise from
having to provide food for their men ; they therefore gave
this advice to the soldiers, that they should not accept the
eating in the captains' houses in place of money payments,
but rather beg to be supplied with money for their own
support ; knowing aU the while that from the great scarcity
of money they could not be well provided therewith, and
by reason of this check Afonso Dalboquerque would be
compelled to abandon Goa and make his way to Cochim,
which was what the captains occupied their thoughts about,
and not whether the men were well or badly provided for.
Now, whereas Afonso Dalboquerque understood that the
prime inciter of the people to disaffection was Jorge da
Cunha, and that at his house Estevao Baiam and Francisco
de Figueiredo had met and drawn up a list of many men
who were to go and beg him, Afonso, to command that
they should be paid their dues in money in order not to have
to eat in the haUs of their captains, he issued order to arrest
Estevao Baiam and Francisco de Figueiredo as a punish
ment to them, and to prevent any further loss arising from
this matter. And when those men who were mixed up in
this conspiracy saw them arrested, they grew alarmed lest a
similar fate should overtake theraselves, and abandoned
their intended requisition and went and took their raeals in
the captains' haUs according to the arrangements that had
been put in force. And in the judicial examination which
was proceeded with in connection with this affair it was
found that Jorge da Cunha was very much to blame, Afonso
Dalboquerque therefore ordered the other two who were in
durance to be released, and reprehended Jorge da Cunha

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 135
on account of this, as well as on account of many other
things which he had done. And Jorge da Cunha was so
much disconcerted at the words which Afonso Dalboquerque
addressed to him, that after a few days had elapsed he
united with Jeronymo Teixeira, Luis Continho, and Fran
cisco de Sousa Mancias (who were all of one way of think
ing), and they went before him and besought permission to
go away to Cochim ; but as he would not grant this to them,
from this time henceforth they carried themselves very pas
sionately and angrily in their conduct towards him.
Nevertheless, Afonso Dalboquerque, on account of his
great desire to complete the fortress out of dread lest the
Hidalcao should come upon him unprepared, pretended not
to notice them, and put up with all that they did. And he
dispatched Diogo Fernandez de B^ja, with sundry vessels and
men, to proceed with the rebuilding of the fortress of Cinta
cora, and to remain therein as captain, lest, if the Hidalcao
should come, any Moors should be placed therein with the
opportunity of inciting the land to rise up against him. But
when Diogo Fernandez arrived at Cintacora he found a large
part of the fortress thrown down and ruined ; and as winter
had now begun to set in and there was no opportunity of
beginning the work anew, he went back to Goa and reported
to Afonso Dalboquerque the state in which he had found the
fortress, and that a very great space of time would be re
quired to repair it, and therefore he had returned.

CHAPTER XXVII.
How Mandaloy, Lord of Condal, wrote to the great Afonso Dalboquer
que the news he had of the coming of the Hidalcao, and what was
done respecting this information.
The affairs of Goa being in the state that I have de
scribed, Mandaloy, Lord of Condal, wrote a letter to the
great Afonso Dalboquerque, wherein he informed him that

136 COMMENTARIES OF
Balogi, Lord of the castle and lands of Pervaloy and of the.
kingdom of SangulQar, had put himself in communication
with Ro5alcao, a captain of the Qabaio, and with Melique
Rabao, Lord of Carrapetao, and all three had sent their
ambassadors to the Hidalcao, desiring him to furnish them
with men, in order that, adding them to the forces they
already had under arms, they might make a descent upon the
territories of Goa and reduce them to obedience again ; and
that Balogi, who had been already in the interior at Banda
with a large force, was there with two thousand men, raised
at his own cost with the determined intention of defending
that land on behalf of the Hidalcao, or to die in performing
this service for his lordship ; and earnestly begged him,
Afonso Dalboquerque, to send him some reinforcement of
men; and he, Mandaloy, on his part, would immediately
deliver the la«ids to whomsoever should be sent, for he
himself desired nothing more than a mere subsistence for
the rest of his life.
As soon as this letter had been delivered to Afonso Dal
boquerque, he called a meeting of the captains, and after
having ordered the letter to be read in their presence, he
told them that Timoja had offered to conduct an expedi
tion at his own expense to the assistance of Mandaloy,
and asked them whether he should entrust this business
to him, or send some other person of greater authority.
After debating for sorae time, it was unanimously agreed
that Afonso Dalboquerque ought to send some captain who
was a fidalgo, with a force of foot and horse soldiers by
land and vessels by sea, to succour them. And having ac
cepted this determination, Afonso Dalboquerque told off,
for the conduct of this .expedition, Jorge da Cunha, with
sixty mounted men and several crossbow-men and mus
keteers, and in their company he sent Menaique,^ one of
the captains of Timoja, and MeUque Qufecondal, with four
' Probably the man named Naique on page 105.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 137
thousand native troopers, and Baldrez, the interpreter, and
Diogo Fernandez de Bdja with three vessels by sea, with
instructions that he was to be under the comraand of Jorge
da Cunha as soon as he came up with him.
And when aU was in readiness, the expedition set out,
and Jorge da Cunha reached the island of Divarij with the
intention of passing over to the mainland on the follow
ing morning. But on that same night, which was the
twenty-third day of the month of April, a native Cana
rese came to him with great haste, and brought him in
formation that to the land of Banda^ and of Condal there
had arrived two of the Hidalcao's captains with a nurae
rous body of men, and that it was reported that their
intentions were to make good their entrance into the Is
land of Goa.
As soon as Jorge da Cunha had heard this news, he re
mained where he was, and would not permit Melique Qufe-
condal to paSs over to the other side ; but he sent the
Canarese messenger with this news to Afonso Dalboquerque,
who immediately sent him back again to Jorge da Cunha,
with a letter telling him not to go any further, but to re
main where he was in Divarij, and to permit none of Timoja's
men to pass from the other side of the mainland until he
had received fresh and more definite news of the army
of the Hidalcao. And after having thus dispatched the
Canarese messenger, Afonso Dalboquerque sent Diogo
Fernandez as a guide,- with twelve mounted soldiers and
¦ Banda. 15 deg. 48 min. N., 73 deg. 53 min. E , near Goa.
2 Adail ; a Portugese word derived from the Arabic ad-dalil, guide or
leader, according to Dozys Englemaun. Bluteau derives from delid,
" dux vise" or " mostrador", and says : —
" O officio do Adail he mostrar, quando marcha o exercito, o caminho,
nSo jd publico, & manifesto, mas encuberto & nao trilhado . . . Tocava
ao Adail governor os Almocadens, & Almogavares, & a mais gente com
que se faziSo cavalgadas nas terras inimigas, & ter conhecimento da
cauipanha, para levar com segurauija as tropas."

133 CO.MMENTAEIES OP
Mirale' with him in command of a thousand Canarese
peons, to pass over to the mainland, and see if they could
come upon any interpreter who might give them any news
of the coming of the Hidalcao.
Thereupon Diogo Fernandez set out, and without being
perceived passed by night over to the mainland, and pro
gressing in this manner, in the depth of the darkness he
came up with the vanguard of the Hidalcao's army so sud
denly that he was utterly routed, and just managed to escape
on his horse, leaving behind him many of the native peons
who were unable to save themselves, so that when he reached
the city again not more than five hundred peons and the
horsemen whom he had taken with him, accompanied him.
And he related to Afonso Dalboquerque all that had taken
place, telling him that he had been thoroughly discomfited
and only saved himself by a miracle, and that the army of
the Hidalcao was very large, and, in his opinion, the host was
facing towards the quarter of Benastarim, with the intention
of establishing their camp there.
Hereupon Afonso Dalboquerque, relying upon the relation
that Diogo Fernandez had given him with regard to the ap
proach of the Hidalcao, called all the captains together and
earnestly desired them, seeing that this news was in every
way trustworthy, to go armed every one of them, and keep
their men in close quarters in order that they might be
ready to rally wherever it should be necessary, if any assault
should be attempted. And he sent word by a messenger to
Jorge de Cunha that he was to return to the city. And at
this very juncture there arrived a runner from Bersore, King
of Garqopa, bringing a letter for Afonso Dalboquerque,
wherein was related that the King of Narsinga had written
to him. King Bersore, that the Hidalcao had sent to him a
messenger to complain of the Hindoos (and chiefly of
Timoja), who were his subjects, because they had assisted
' Mir-Ali.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 139
the Portuguese to take Goa from him, and If this had not
been done in accordance with his views, he begged him,
the King of Narsinga, to help him to regain possession of
that place; and that the King of Narsinga had replied that it
was forty years since the Moors of Decan had taken from
him the kingdom of Goa, and now it gratified him very
much to see that it was in the power of the King of Portu
gal, whose brother and friend he had now become ; and as
for the assistance that he asked for retaking the city, he
intended to give it, on the contrary, to the Portuguese for
defending the place. And in the same letter the King of
Garcopa sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque that he, too, was
ready with his own body and all the resources of his king
dom to serve hira against the Hidalcao whenever it was
necessaiy, because he was very desirous of forming an alli
ance with hira.
Afonso Dalboquerque despatched his messenger back,
sending by him a letter in reply to the King of Garpopa,
proffering him many thanks for the offers of assistance
which he had made, and telling him that he would write to
the King of Narsinga to get himself ready to fight the
Hidalcao, and therefore he had not touched upon any mat
ters concerning the latter, as contained in his present letter ;
but he had made up his mind to send him a messenger who
would teU him all about the proceedings by word of mouth.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, immediately upon hearing this
news, provided the strongholds of the island with men and cap
tains,' and ordered the trial of the Xabandar, on account of the
evil report he had of him, and further doings.
No sooner was this interview concluded that the great
Afonso Dalboquerque held with his captains concerning the

140 COMMENTAEIES OP
approach of the Hidalcao, than he remounted upon his horse,
with as many people as he could gather together, and made
an inspection of all the passes of the Island, in order to pro
vide them with everything that was required. And in Be
nastarim he placed Garcia de Sousa with a hundred Portu
guese soldiers, and six horse-soldiers, and four pieces of
artillery and gunners to man them, and impressed strongly
upon him the need of taking care to cause them to search
everybody who passed over to the mainland, lest they carried
with them any letters of advice from the Moors In Goa to
those in the camp of the Hidalcao; and thence he proceeded
to Old Goa, and therein he placed Jorge da Cunha with sixty
cavalry soldiers, under orders to hasten to the defence of
the other passes if need should arise; and at the pass of
Augij he stationed Timoja's cousin and Mirale, with his own
company; and at that of Gondalij he placed Francisco Pe
reira and Francisco de Sousa Mancias, with at housand native
soldiers ; and in the dry pass he left Jorge Fogaga, with
twenty of our men and twenty native soldiers ; and in that
of Agacij D. Jeronymo de Lima, with forty Portuguese
soldiers and a number of natives. And in every one of these
passes there were towers which had been constructed at the
time when the Kings of Narsinga were In possession of
Goa, Afonso Dalboquerque therefore ordered that the cap
tains should be supplied with artillery, gunpowder, and
gunners, for their defence in case the Hidalcao's men should
shew any signs of attacking them ; and that the boats of
the ships should be kept close at hand in order to be able
to take refuge in them if It were necessary.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had arranged aU those
affairs in order, he betook himself again to the city, and
ordered D. Antonio de Noronha to get ready the boats, gal
leys, pardos, and some smaU vessels, with men and guns, to
pass up the river, visiting all these passes and reinforcing our
men that were stationed in them. And whUe he was yet on

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 141
the shore, ordering the disposition of all this fleet; Dinis
Fernandez, the chief surveyor of the Navy, came up to hira
and told him that the Xabandar of the coast had despatched
sundry pardos up along the river; and because he thought
this was wrong and the crisis caused one to be very suspi
cious, he had told him not to send any ^amos up, but down
the river, towards the bar, whither already on occasions
they had gone for necessary stores, but the Xabandar would
not do so. Then Afonso Dalboquerque sent for the Xaban
dar, and asked him why he was sending the pardos up along
the river, since he knew that the Hidalcao was posted there
with a great force, intending to force an entry into the city;
and the Xabandar replied that he did not know of the
coming of the Hidalcao, and though he had sent the pardos
up, it was in order that they should bring back stores re
quired for the provisioning of the city, according to the in
structions which had been given to him. But as the excuse
was not a good one, and Afonso Dalboquerque' had reason
to suspect him, that he was sending the pardos to give a
passage to the men under the command of the Hidalcao,
he ordered his halbardlers to put him to death and throw
his body into the river.
When D. Antonio had set out with the fleet which was
ready by this time, a message was brought for him from
Garcia de Sousa, stating that the Hidalcao had already arrived
with all his men, and that he had pitched his camp before
Benastarim, and, according to appearances, it was a very
numerous force.
At the receipt of this inteUigence Afonso Dalboquerque
got on his horse, accompanied by all his captains and some
people on foot, and made his way to Benastarim, and when
he arrived, there was the Hidalcao already withdrawn with
aU his forces behind a hUl, for Garcia de Sousa had killed
some of them with his artlUery. And In this spot where
the Hidalcao had pitched his camp there stood a mosque

142 COMMENTARIES OP
and some houses In which the Moors could obtain shelter
from the artiUery of the fortress ; so, for this reason, Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered Garcia de Sousa to take the men
that were under his command along with him, and burn the
houses and throw down the mosque ; and Garcia passed
over from the other side and destroyed everything, and set
fire to the mosque, and as it was all by the waterside he re
turned to his quarters again without suffering any injury at
the hands of the Moors.
As soon as Garcia de Sousa had returned, Afonso Dalbo
querque mounted again on horseback and proceeded with
his inspection of all the passes where the captains were
stationed, instructing them how they were to act ; and then
he returned to the city to see to the disposition of its forti
fications and everything else that was necessary for the de
fence of the fortress and the city in case the Hidalcao should
enter into the island. And when he was passing through
the dry pass, Jorge Fogaqa, who was stationed there as
captain in command, delivered over to him a young man who
had fled that morning from the camp of the Hidalcao. This
young man was a Christian, a native of Crete, who had been
captured by Camalo, a captain of the Turk, and a merchant
had bought him with many others, and carried them to the
kingdom of Decan, and given them to the old ^abaio. But
as he was a Christian, and knew that they also were Chris
tians who were there in Goa, he had fled away and betaken
himself to them, and two others also had accompanied him
in his flight, but he knew not what had become of them.
And ho gave much information concerning the camp of the
Hidalcao and of the great numbers of men he had in it, and
how he had fixed his determination to enter into the island
by force. And two days afterwards the other two young
men arrived; one of them was an Albanian and the other
came from Russia.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 143

CHAPTER XXIX.
How the Hidalcao sent JoSo Machado, and a Venetian, who were with
him, having tumed Moors, with a message to the great Afonso
Dalboquerque, desiring him to quit Goa, and of the reply he gave
them.
As soon as the HidalcSo had pitched his camp, it occurred
to him that when the great Afonso Dalboquerque knew the
power of the army which he had raised, he would surrender
Goa to him without any more armed opposition ; in order,
therefore, to sound his intentions, he sent him a message
by means of a Portuguese and a Venetian, who were with
him, having turned Moors. These men came up by night
in an almadia to the pass of Agacij, whereof D. Jeronymo
was the captain, and declared to him that they were the
bearers of a message from the Hidalcao to the Captain-
General of India, and they had been desired to demand a
safe conduct for both of them, and a man who should re
main in the camp as a hostage, in order that they might
go and speak with his Lordship ; and it might so turn
out, they said, that their mission would prove very advan
tageous to all.
D. Jeronymo sent word immediately to Afonso Dalboquer
que, relating aU that had happened ; and as he was very
anxious to know who the Portuguese man was that had
brought this message, he sent back a safe conduct at once
for him, and appointed Baldrez to be lodged in the enemy's
camp as a hostage ; for this latter was very well versed in
the native language, and on this account he was advised to
listen to the deliberations and intentions of the Moors, yet
not allow them to find out that he could speak any other
language than Portuguese. When Baldrez had reached the
camp, and the safe gonduct come to hand, D. Jeronymo
sent the ¦ Portuguese and the Venetian in his boat, and

144 COMMENTARIES OF
these two came up in it to the fortress on the first day
of May, by night; and, in order that they should not
enter into the fortress, Afonso Dalboquerque came down
and waited for them at -the gate which looked out on to
the river, and when they arrived he enquired of them who
they were. The Portuguese replied, that his companion
was by nation a Venetian, who had been for a long time in
the service of the Hidalcao, but he himself was called Joao
Machado, and had come from Portugal in disgrace, in the
fleet of Pedralvarez Cabral, and remained behind at Melinde,
and from that place had passed over to the kingdom of
Cambaya ; but, as the King gave him very small wages, he
had made his way to the kingdom of Decan and taken ser
vice, as a means of support, under the Qabayo, father of the
Hidalcao. Yet, he said, for all that he had walked in such
crooked ways, as his Lordship now perceived by this narra
tive, he had still retained his Christian religion, and believed
truly that by Jesus Christ and by His Death and Passion he
should be saved : and, although he had undertaken to de
liver the raessage of the Hidalcao which he was now bring
ing, it really was in order to give hira, Afonso Dalboquerque,
certain information, and to tell him the truth concerning
the enemy's army in whose company he had come to Goa.
Then Afonso Dalboquerque enquired of him if he desired
to speak with him in private or in the presence of all who were
there assembled. The Portuguese repHed, that he would be
glad to speak with him in private ; and so Afonso Dalbo
querque withdrew and took him aside, and Joao Machado
told him that the Hidalcao was very desirous of obtaining
his alliance, on account of the great name which he had ac
quired among the Moors, and that he was not surprised at the
faU of Goa because he knew for certain that Timoja had in
trigued with the Hindoos of the land to deliver up the city
to the Portuguese, but that the Hidalcao now begged him
earnestly to surrender the island and the lands of Goa, and

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 145
in exchange he would give him another place of his own on
the sea-coast, whichever he selected, wherein to erect a
fortress : but if he, Afonso, were unwilling to carry out this
that was asked of him, he was to know for a surety that the
Hidalcao would on no consideration quit his military position
until he had cast him out of the city, for the whole future of
the State depended on this issue. And, he continued, since
the Hidalcao was thus determined, his lordship, Afonso
Dalboquerque, ought to take some means to arrange mat
ters with him, for he was a young and powerful lord, anxious
to obtain honourable reputation, and at the head of a nume
rous body of men of high caste who were highly esteemed and
feared in these parts, and by whose means he had obtained
the mastery over a large part of that kingdora, and of the
other-class of natives he could have as many as he required.
And Joao Machado went on to say that he would advise
Afonso Dalboquerque by no manner of means to repose
any confidence in the inhabitants of Goa city, for they were
ripe for revolution, and as soon as they should see four
Moors from the camp get into the island they would all rise
up at once against him, seeing that not a day passed that
the Hidalcao did not receive letters from the Moors of the
city, advising him tp force an entry, that they were devoted
to his cause, and ready to sacrifice their lives for him ; but
rather that he, Afonso Dalboquerque, should give orders
for watching all the passes of the island, for he should
know of a certainty that, wherever there was the most care
lessness, at that place the Hidalcao would be sure to enter.
And, he added, truly it appeared to him that Afonso Dalbo
querque was not sufficiently strong to prevent the Hidal-
cSo's entry into the island, — although that he did not say
this as one who sided with that prince's army, but because
it was his firm conviction ; and he trusted in God tjiat he
might soon get back to Portugal and see the King D.
Manuel, and give him a long account of the affairs of that
land.

146 COMMENTARIES OP
Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that he was much obliged
to him for the good will he had shewn, and the advice he
had given, aud that he hoped it would please God to give
him such knowledge of the truth that he might ultimately
obtain true salvation, — and he was to carry back to the
Hidalcao this reply, that he, Afonso Dalboquerque, had not
taken Goa merely to lose it again, for Goa could only belong
to him who had also the dominion of the sea, namely, the
King D. Manuel, his Lord ; but he would be very glad to
come to terms of peace with him, seeing that hereby not
only would the Hidalcao increase the stability of his own
position, but he also would infuse great terror among the
neighbouring states, — and this advice he gave as a liian of
sixty years of age and well experienced in arms, to him
who was but a young man and badly advised. And, he
continued, if the Hidalcao placed any reliance on his hopes
of succour from the Grand Sultan, he had greatly erred,
for the rout that D. Francisco Dalmeida^ had inflicted upon
the Rumes had been so thorough, that they could not be
able to rally to his assistance at that juncture; but he
begged the Hidalcao to be sensible enough to raise the
siege and take himself off, and surrender Dabul, wherein
he, Afonso, might erect a fortress, and on these conditions
peace should be made, but if the Hidalcao. did not choose to
carry out all that had been laid down, it was no use talking
any more in concert, for this would always be the ultimate
answer that he would give him.
Then Joao Machado replied, that he was very much con
cerned at seeing affairs in such a desperate crisis that they
could not be arranged, for the Hidalcao would certainly not
agree to this settlement, because he would never give up
a portion of his kingdom according to this proposal. And
with this reply he took his departure, and Afonso Dalbo
querque made him a present of sixty cruzados, and to the
¦ See note, page 112.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 14?
Venetian he gave forty, and so they returned in the same
boat which had brought them, and on arriving at the camp
they delivered the reply which they took back to Hidal
cao ; and he, on his part, sent Baldrez back again, tellincr
him to say to Afonso Dalboquerque that he was much sur
prised at the rejection of the terms that had been offered to
him, but he would promise him, before many days were
passed, that he would be sorry for the message that he had
sent. As soon as Baldrez arrived, he narrated to Afonso
Dalboquerque the sayings of the Hidalcao, and told him
how in the camp there were a numerous body of soldiers,
both infantry and cavalry, and they were making ready
large quantities of rafts, and fascines, in order to pass over
thereby to the island ; but the Turks, whose wives and
families were in Goa, were unwilling that the Hidalcao
should make any agreement with him, for they were all
prepared to die or become again lords of Goa, and all that
they talked about was that the attempt to regain the pos
session of the city might cost them a million of men.

CHAPTER XXX.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque gave an account to Timoja of the
message which Joao Machado had brought from the Hidalcao to
him, and of further proceedings thereupon.
The great Afonso Dalboquerque, in this interview which
he held with Joao Machado and the Venetian, became
very much alarmed on account of what he was informed
with regard to the Moors of Goa, although the inforraation
was not clearly expressed. And, In order to arrive at some
determination in respect to his future actions in this matter,
he sent for Timoja and narrated to him the message which
he had received from the Hidalcao, and the reply which he
had given. And after some conversation upon these sub-

148 COMMENTARIES OP
jects, he told Timoja that information had been given to
the effect that certain of the chief Moors of the city were
engaged in correspondence with the Hidalcao, and had
communications with the Rumes who were in his camp,
therefore he desired him to give him the benefit of his ad
vice as a friend, as to the manner in which he ought to act
in order to prevent this fire from bursting out into a flame.
Timoja replied, that he had now for some days ceased to
repose any confidence in the Moors, because he had always
considered that they were angry at beholding the city in
the power of the Portuguese ; and his advice would be,
that Afonso Dalboquerque should order all the principal
headmen, not only Moors, but Hindoos as well, to be
collected together in the fortress, for in such, times as
these one ought no't to confide in either the one or the
other. Then Afonso Dalboquerque replied — for it was in
order to get this advice out of Timoja that he had intention
ally asked him this question — that he was very much In
debted to him for such advice, and since his opinion was
such, he, Timoja, as he was then governor, should be the
first, in order to avoid disaffection among the one or the
other, to take his wife aud children to the fortress ; for
when the Moors and Hindoos should behold so important a
man as he was, and one in possession of so much authority,
performing this without any reluctance, he would be able
to command every one else to do the same.
And although Timoja was now very sorry for the advice he
had given, yet because he was the originator of this pro
posal, he was constrained to send off at once for his wife
and a son whom he had, and placed them in the fortress.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had the wife of Timoja
there in his power, he summoned a meeting of the principal
Moors and Hindoos who governed the land, and told them
to gather together aU the noble Moors and Hindoos, as weU
of the island as those who lived in Old G oa, and to command

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 149
them, on their own responsibility, to come on the foUowing
day with their wives and families to take up their abode
in the fortress ; for he was afraid lest they should receive
serious injuries and efforts from the Turks, in case the
Hidalcao should gain an entry into the island. In pursuance
of this order, when the Moors and Hindoos knew that the
wife and son of Timoja were already in the castle, they pro
ceeded immediately to take up their quarters within it with
their wives and families, although they were very much
annoyed at this edict issued by Afonso Dalboquerque. And
when these had been settled in their places, Afonso Dalbo
querque issued similar orders for the gathering together of
the women and children of the Turks who were engaged in
the camp of the Hidalcao, and then sent word to them there
in the camp, that unless within the space of six days they
returned to the city, he would sell their wives and families
into slavery, and tliey themselves should lose all their
property. Afonso Dalboquerque acted in this manner because he
had given these Turks an assurance, which it will be re
membered they had sent to demand of him, in order that
they shoiild come to him in safety ; and he was thus com
pelled to keep to his word, and send notice first of all to
them about his intention. But the Rumes, who were simi
larly employed in the camp of the Hidalcao, had no assur
ance of a like nature from Afonso Dalboquerque, so he
ordered that their wives and children should be taken for
slaves, being determined to make a terrible example of
them, in order that throughout the whole of the land th&
people should observe the hatred which the Portuguese had
to the people of the Grand Sultan of Cairo, so that no one
of the rulers of India might dare to harbour them in their
ports and villages.
And Afonso Dalboquerque ordered a large quantity of
timber to be carried with the utmost de,spatch to Garcia de

1,50 COMMENTAEIES 6p
Sousa, with the object of erecting a very strong stockade on
the side towards the city, for he no longer placed any reliance
upon the Moors of the city, and he feared lest they should
gain an entrance into Benastarim by forcing themselves
through the lines at that place ; and Garcia de Sousa lost
no time in building the stockade, and placed in it two large
guns which had been sent expressly for that purpose by
Afonso Dalboquerque, and a quantity of smaller artillery,
and appointed Garcia's brother, Duarte de Sousa, to be
captain of it, with a body of men under him to keep watch
over the movements of the Moors who were in the city.
But when Afonso Dalboquerque was informed that the
Hidakao was determined to storm the island at the pass of
Augij, where Timoja's men were stationed — who sometimes
were inclined to desert the pass and go away — he told the
chief to make ready four hundred of those men that had
accompanied Jorge da Cunha, and then he sent them to the
pass of Augij, where the other men were, and then without
giving Timoja any explanation of his so doing he placed
over them as captain an ambassador of the King of Onor,
who happened to be with him, and in whom he reposed
great confidence because he was one of the most illustrious
men there, and a cavalier. And thus Afonso Dalboquerque,
having provided aU the passes with everything that they
required, remained besieged for about the space of a month,
sometimes being attacked by the Turks in many parts, in
order that they might get into the island. But our men
defended themselves very valiantly, and slew several of the
Hidalcao's men in these engagements.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 151

CHAPTER XXXI.
Of the message which Garcia de Sousa sent from Benastarim to the
great Afonso Dalboquerque ; and how the latter made an inspection
of the passes of the island, and further doings.
WhUe the passes of the island were in the state which I
have described, a native peon arrived with a letter from
Garcia de Sousa for the great Afonso Dalboquerque; wherein
he informed him that the people who composed the be
sieging force of the Hidalcao were very numerous, and fresh
supphes of men were coming up to swell its numbers every
day ; and that the soldiers who were on guard at the passes
were very few, and although he had some native troops with
him it was not right for him to put any trust in them,
seeing that if they could turn traitors to their own fellow
countrymen and their own sects, as they had done, they
would be much more likely also to act in a similar manner
towards the Christians : and that since they had not suffi
cient forces wherewith to withstand the Hidalcao's entry
into the island, he was of opinion that his Lordship ought
to order all who were engaged in defending the passes to
withdraw into the fortress, in order that by fortifying them
selves in it very strongly with barricades they might success
fully oppose the power of the Hidalcao, who was coming
against them ; and that the fleet which was stationed in the
river was sufficient for defending their passage and covering
their re-embarkation, and thus everything would be arranged
in a secure position.
Afonso Dalboquerque had become by this time so much
irritated by the repeated importunities of his captains, that
it was only his indomitable spirit which enabled him to
bear up against the troubles which they continuaUy brought
upon him ; so he sent back word in reply to Garcia de
Sousa that he must keep good guard at Benastarim, which

152 COMMENTARIES OP
had been apportioned to his charge, and leave the manage
ment of affairs to him ; for he had made up his mind to
defend the island, yea, and the interior country also, if he
thought necessary ; and that there was no cause for alarm,
because he relied upon the mercy of God to put his enemies
to flight, seeing that he himself possessed sufficient bravery
and confidence for every emergency. And together with
this reply Alfonso Dalboquerque sent him a large gun to be
placed in the stockade on the side where the Hidalcao had
pitched his camp, and with the help of this he inflicted
serious injuries upon the enemy.
At this juncture of events Diogo Fernandez de Bdja re
turned with his fleet, that Afonso Dalboquerque had sent
to Condal to act in concert with Jorge da Cunha, and related
to him how all the land was full of the Hidalcao's soldiers;
and, as he had no intelligence of Jorge da Cunha, he had made
his way back because he thought his services might be re
quired at Goa ; and that in issuing out of the river many
Moors came down against them and shot at them with
matchlocks and arrows. Without any delay, Afonso Dalbo
querque ordered him to sail up the river again imraediately,
with all his fleet, and co-operate with D. Antonio de
Noronha in defending the passage against the Moors who
were bent upon crossing over to the island.
And having arranged this matter, Afonso Dalboquerque
mounted his horse, and accompanied by several people,
both on horse and on foot, raade his way immediately to
wards Old Goa, where Jorge da Cunha was stationed, carry
ing with him Melique (Jlufecondal whom he had met with on
the road; and after having remained with hira for some
space of tirae he bade hira look well to the guarding of that
pass ; and then he left and went on to the pass of Agacij,
where on the water there were D. Antonio, Fernao Perez
Dandrade, Luis Coutinho, Bernaldim Freire, and a larse
number of others with them, for there at that pass the

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 153
Hidakao had stationed the greater part of his host. And
when he took leave of these, he told them that he hoped
they would of their goodness take care to keep strict watch
and keep off the Moors from their attempts to cross over
the river, for upon this the safety of everyone depended.
And then he went on his progress to Benastarim, and
stayed some time there conversing with Garcia de Sousa ;
and in the course of his interview he told him how on the
road he had been informed by sorae Moors that Melique Qufe-
condal had entered upon an understanding with the Hidal
cao, to the end the latter should attack all the passes of the
island in the rafts and pardos that he could avail himself of,
while the former was to rise up with all his men and put
Jorge da Cunha and his companions to death, and as soon
as these were dead to overrun all the stockades and get
everything into their own hands, and therefore it was that
he, Afonso Dalboquerque, was taking him unsuspectingly
back with him to Goa to chastise him.
Garcia de Sousa told Afonso Dalboquerque that he was con
tinually in dread of the people of the land, for they were all
of the same mind as Melique Qiifeoondal ; and that although
his lordship had taken it in bad part that he had sent to re
mind him that the Christians were very few and the Moors
many, yet he would assure him that through this pass that
he had to defend none of the soldiers of the Hidalcao would
enter whether he had many or few in his company. Afonso
Dalboquerque told him that of a truth his intentions had
been quite misunderstood ; but that it was owing to the
great confidence that he reposed in his person, and in the
strength of his cavalry, that he had entrusted him with the
command at Benastarim, which was the principal pass of
that island of Goa.
And then, after staying a little while in conversation with
him, Afonso Dalboquerque got again on his horse, and pro
ceeded with his visit to all the other passes, and arrived at

154 COMMENTARIES OP
the city again when it was already night. And then he
sent for Gaspar de Paiva, chief alcaide of the fortress, and
to him he gave charge of Melique Qufe[condal] to keep in
safe custody with the others, at which Melique ^ufe[condal]
became very much surprised, for he never had the least sus
picion that he had been brought back a prisoner. As soon
as Afoiiso Dalboquerque had returned to the city, Timoja
told him that Mandaloi, Lord of Condal, had written him a
letter, wherein he stated that as soon as he knew that the
Hidakao had come down against Goa with his host, he had
gathered together four thousand men and overrun all the
mountain passes, and captured from him the supplies- that
were proceeding to the camp, and that he was encamped at
three leagues' distance from the Hidakao, and if he, Timoja,
would send word on what day he intended to fall upon the
Hidakao, he, Mandaloi, at the same moment would attack
the camp with his men, for he felt it his duty to put him
self in all things completely under the orders of the Por
tuguese. Afonso Dalboquerque told Timoja to write in
reply that he owed him many thanks for his message, and
he hoped tb God that he should some day be able to repay
hira for the good intentions he had expressed of acting
for the service of the King of Portugal, by making him
lord of the lands of the Hidakao in the name of the King ;
but that for the present he must keep quiet, and when the
moment arrived he would send him word what he would
have him do.

CHAPTER XXXII.

How the Hidalcao entered the island of Goa through the pass of Aga
cij, and proceeded to attack the city ; and the great Afonso Dalbo
querque retired to the castle with all his men, and what took place
in continuation.
By this time the great Afonso Dalboquerque perceived
that the Hidalcao was determined to enter into the Island of

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 155
Goa against him, without being deterred by any fear of the
fleet that was riding in the river with its large number of
soldiers and its artillery ; yet he felt sure that this enter
prise would never have been attempted had it not been that
the Hidakao was induced so to act by the intelligence which
the Moors of the city had conveyed to him, according to
the information which Joao Machado had given him. And as
he had now som e suspicion of certain native Moors of noble
race, who were in correspondence with some of their relatives
in the Hidalcao's camp, as soon as he arrived at the city he
gave orders that they should be punished according to their
deserts. And being very anxious about the security of the
pass of Augij, on account of his suspicions concerning the
men commanded by Tiraoja, he gave orders to his nephew,
D. Antonio de Noronha, who was chief captain of the fleet
in the river, to take up his station at that pass and keep
very close watch over it.
The Hidalcao had by this tirae prepared his rafts, and on
a Friday, the seventeenth day of May [a.d. 1510], there
was a great and storray sea running, for it was the winter sea
son, when he gave orders to three hundred Turks to pass
over from the mainland to the island by the pass of Augij.
And because the tempest was at a great height, and the
darkness of the night was very intense, D. Antonio failed
to take care that the galleys should be ordered to stand
well in to the shore, and thus the Turks had tirae to get
across without being perceived, and then returned imme
diately on the same rafts and on others which they had
already prepared for the occasion, and seven hundred Turks
embarked on them and began to pass over. But as by
this time the day was beginning to break, three of our
boats, which were stationed close in towards the land, per
ceived them and signalled to D. Antonio, who immediately
came up with all the ships, and with well-directed shot
from his guns broke all the rafts to pieces and put all

156 COMMENTARIES OP
the Turks to the sword, so that none escaped except" three
who fled away.
The Hidalcao felt the death of these Turks on account of
the great expenses he had been at to gather them together in
his dominions. And while D. Antonio was engaged with his
men slaying these Turks, a second party, to the number
of two thousand, began to cross over from the other side
through some lagoons of weed, all of them covered with
mud, without being observed by the Portuguese, who were
intently occupied with their own work ; but Menaique, the
captain of Timoja, who was stationed at Old Goa in com
pany with Jorge da Cunha, caught sight of the Turks, when
already a great part of them had got over, and proceeded
on horseback to attack them with two hundred native peons
who desired to follow hira ; the Turks, however, did not
attempt to move, and Menaique, having come up with
them, feU upon them in their van, and before they could
free themselves from the mud, put thirty or forty of them
to death. And when they began to rally and form in close
ranks, and he saw that Jorge da Cunha rendered hira very
little support, he withdrew with his men and returned to
Goa, taking with him the heads of those whom he had put
to death.
Timoja's men, who had been placed at the pass, no sooner
saw the Turks, than they went and united with them, and
then all ran together in one body to Benastarim, where
Garcia de Sousa held his position, and stormed the stockades
and captured the great gun^ that was therein, and some
smaller guns^ and put to death his brother* and four or
five men, and set fire to the stockades. As soon as Garcia
de Sousa perceived that he had no chance of resisting the
Turks, he withdrew into a pardo that was ready at hand and
retired to Goa. Then Francisco de Sousa Mancias and
Francisco Pereira Coutinho, who were on guard over the
' Camelo. ¦' Bergos. ' Duarte de Sousa. See p. 150.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 157
pass of Gondalij, retired from the tower at the approach of
the Turks, leaving four guns^ behind them, and took refuge
in a boat at some stairs and came down Into the city. And
when Jorge da Cunha saw that our people were put to rout,
and that the Turks had at length forced an entry into the
island at many places, he began to withdraw with his
mounted men, now very much in disorder, and three horse
men were killed.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque became aware that
Jorge da Cunha was coming on with great difficulty, he
sent Diogo Fernandez, the Adail,^ with twenty horsemen
and fifty rank and file, to go to his assistance and rally
the party, which action he performed on that day like a
very valiant cavalier as he was ; for on this occasion, and
in every other in which he was employed, he was always
able to give a very good account of himself. And after
that Diogo Fernandez had started off, Afonso Dalboquerque
took horse, and went down to the market square with fifty
armed men, in order to see if he could quiet the great demon
strations of joy which the Moors were making after the Turks
had entered the island.. And the Moors, like raen who now had
become thoroughly roused, no sooner caught sight of Afonso
Dalboquerque, than they went up to attack him. And he,
in order to more thoroughly prevail against them that were
no longer awed by his presence, ordered fire to be set to
the city in four places ; and then, leading the people he had
with him, he fell upon the enemy, and put to the sword
every one of them that he found in the streets, without
giving quarter to any one : and after having thus inflicted a
very severe chastisement upon the Hidalcao's army, he began
to pass along through the whole length of the city with all
his people ; and whUe he was thus passing along through
one of the streets he caught sight of Timoja, who was also
in progress of withdrawing, being hard pressed by certain
¦ Bombardos. ' See page 137, note 2.

158 COMMENTAEIES OP
Turks who were coming along in close quarters with him ;
and as soon as he saw them he charged down upon them,
and so put them to discomfiture that they retreated.
And if it had not so happened that Afonso Dalboquerque
had been there at that moment, Timoja, and some of his
captains who were with him, would have lost their lives, and
this would have afforded more satisfaction to the Hidakao
than the taking of the city. By this time, so numerous
were the Moors of the Hidalcao's host that had penetrated
into the city, that it was imperatively necessary for Afonso
Dalboquerque to withdraw with all his army into the for
tress, for there were already thirty of our men dead and many
wounded. And as it was, this affair did not cost the Hidakao
so little as he suspected, seeing that upwards of two thou
sand of his men lay stretched out dead up and down the
streets. When Afonso Dalboquerque had entered into the fortress
he found our people so full of fear at the enormous num
bers whom the Hidalcao brought with him, that he began
to encourage them, and on the following day, in the course
of the morning, D. Antonio de Noronha arrived in the gal
leys and boats which he had under his command in the
river, and his arrival infused a little courage into our people.
And forthwith Afonso Dalboquerque despatched Jorge da
Cunha with two hundred men in the boats to make for the
shore and set fire to the ships that were drawn up in the
dockyards, and to burn the magazine : but seeing that
many Moors ran up in defence of the shore, Jorge da
Cunha could not set fire to more than four, and to the maga
zine buUding, wherein were burned large stores of cord
age, and all the dockyard apparatus, and then he returned.
And on the next day, during the morning, the Hidalcao
made his entry with aU the men of his host into the city,
with so much shouting and blowing of trumpets, that it
was enough to terrify every one who heard it.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 159
CHAPTER XXXIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque determined to fortify himself m
the fortress and maintain it ; and of what passed with the captains
thereupon ; and of the message which the Hidalcao sent through
Joao Machado, and what happened afterwards.
Directly that the great Afonso Dalboquerque had with
drawn with all his forces to the fortress, he commanded the
captains to take up their positions in stockades on the wall,
with the intention of fortifying himself therein and defend
ing himself from the Hidakao until he could get re
inforcements from Cochim, for which he had determined to
send. And in order to make up his mind thoroughly as
to what course of action he should pursue, he called a
meeting of the captains and told them that now that the
Hidakao had made good his entrance into the island and
was now in possession of the city, owing to every one's
fault, a good opportunity presented itself for thera to re
trieve the loss they had sustained by reason of the care
lessness they had shewn in the matter, in maintaining this
fortress. For in addition to its great natural strength,
— it would not yield even to Rhodes itself in that respect, —
there were therein a thousand Portuguese, against whom,
if they defended themselves valiantly, all the power that the
Hidalcao could possibly bring to bear would not be suffi
cient to force an entry, and meanwhile he would send for
assistance from Cochim.
To these representations the captains replied, that the
reason why the Hidalcao had been able to effect an entry
into the island and take possession of the city was not the
want of forces on their part nor any carelessness of which
they had been guUty, but simply because the Moors were
so numerous, and they themselves so few. And as for their
desiring to defend the fortress and maintain it against the
enemy, he ought not, they declared, to think any more of

160 COMMENTAEIES OF
such a thing, because they were not sufficiently powerful to
be able to ward off from themselves the attacks which the
forces of the Hidakao there stationed could make upon it;
but he ought to withdraw to the ships and at any rate
secure his fleet, for in this lay the safety of the whole of their
Indian possessions. And this was the expressed opinion of
all the captains, with the exception of D. Antonio de No
ronha, and Gaspar de Paiva, chief Alcaide of the fortress,
who, indeed, declared that Afonso Dalboquerque ought not
to leave the fortress but rather secure it, and maintain their
position therein, until they could ascertain the intentions of
the Hidakao, for they had the river behind them and could
thereby make good their retreat whenever they so desired,
without any risk of disaster.
But Afonso Dalboquerque, who was determined to fortify
hiraself in the fortress and raaintain it, would not give any
opinion upon the state of affairs, and left the business in
this state without arriving at any conclusion, and said that
the remainder of the captains who were not then present
must first of all come and then he would arrange what was
needful to be carried out. The captains were, however, so
dejected that they could not rest contented with this defer
ring of action, and each one by himself made his way to
Afonso Dalboquerque, and requested him by various argu
ments to withdraw to the ships and give up possession of
the fortress ; but he always temporised with them, until at
length one day all assembled in preconcerted union and told
him he must withdraw because there was no longer any use
in any further waiting, and if it should be that he were un
wUUng to do so, they at least were determined to retire and
leave him.
Thereupon, Afonso Dalboquerque, who was afraid lest
the fear which had fallen upon them should lead them into
some fatal error, ordered D. Antonio de Noronha, his
nephew, to proceed to the gate of the fortress that opened

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 161
out on the riverside, and prevent any one from going out
that way, or stirring forth thence, until he should see him
in person, or receive a certain signal which had been ar
ranged between them. And now finding himself surrounded
by so much trouble, that in order to maintain possession of
the fortress he was compelled to guard it from the Moors
and from the Christians alike; and that the Hidalcao would
become acquainted with the dissensions that were rife in
their ranks by obtaining the information of two foreigners
of the fleet, who had the day before cast in their lot with
him; and that aU of them would have to withdraw from their
positions upon the wall at the instant of any serious attack,
Afonso Dalboquerque came to a determination of his own
accord to take refuge in the ships, in order that the artillery
should not be lost that was on shore. To this end he di
spatched Manuel Fragoso in a fusta privately by night to
reconnoitre the state of the river, because he had received
inteUigence that the Moors had scuttled two ships of Mala
bar, laden with stone, in the bend which the river forms
just below the docks, in order to stop up the passage, for
that was the narrowest part of the course.
And when Manuel Fragoso had set out, Jorge da Cunha
sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque that Joao Machado had
arrived at his station, and brought him news that he de
sired another interview with Afonso Dalboquerque, who
therefore enquired of the captains what he should do ; and
every one of them gave it as their opinion that he ought
not to grant him any interview, for the suitable time fdY-
negotiating was now gone by, and all that they ought now to
do was to re-embark. Nevertheless, Afonso Dalboquerque,
at the last moment, said he would speak with this man,
for he would not venture to go very far with the ad
vice the captains gave ; yet in order that Joao Machado
should not perceive the disordered and disconcerted state
in which our party were, he would not allow him to enter

162 COMMENTARIES OP
the fortress, but told Antonio da Costa to proceed with his
boat and fetch the man and bring him to the galley of Simao
Dandrade, while he himself got upon his horse and made his
way as far as the gate of the city where the galley was
stationed. And while he was there, Joao Machado arrived,
when it was now the dead of night, and told him that he,
for his part, had always been desirous that his lordship
should come to some settlement with the Hidakao, and
that he could easily see that affairs were going very con
trary to the way he should like them to go ; and that since
things were so, and his lordship could not hold the island
against the power of the Hidakao, much less could he de
fend the fortress, for in the Hidalcao's camp there was a
large number of men and many military appliances ready to
attack it ; and so he went on alleging many other reasons
in support of his argument. And while Afonso Dalbo
querque stood thus conversing with Joao Machado, Fran
cisco de Sousa Mancias carae up, and speaking inoppor
tunely asked what he should do, for the Moors were getting
an entrance into the fortress, and the captains had sent hira
to beg that he, Afonso Dalboquerque, would re-embark, for
if he would not consent to do so, they would quit their
appointed stations.
This, that was thus said in the presence of Joao Machado,
to whom Afonso Dalboquerque was, as it were, selling him
self, and was evidently so contrary to the show of power which
he was making, and so astonished him, that he sprang up in a
passion and said to Francisco de Sousa Mancias : — " How is
it, Francisco de Sousa, that you are so desirous of handing
over this fortress to the Turks ? Go, then, and give it up
to them ; and do as you wish." And then Francisco de
Sousa, whose only anxiety was to extricate himself from
the perUs in which he found himself involved, made his
way to D. Antonio de Noronha, and on coming before him
said that his uncle had ordered that he was to surrender

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 163
the fortress and withdraw. And thereupon D. Antonio,
forgetting the orders his uncle had given him [concerning
the appointed signal], and relying solely upon the words
that Francisco de Sousa said, ordered his men immediately
to set fire to one of the arsenals. And while the news was
running through the station where the Portuguese forces
were posted, our men came down in a confused mass to
the gate on the waterside, with the intention of re-embark
ing. Afonso Dalboquerque heard the noise our men made,
and thinking that it was caused by the Moors, because it was
night, took his leave of Joao Machado, and got into a boat
and made his way to the waterside gate, and there found
the confused body of men who were crowding down to the
banks with the object of betaking themselves to the ships ;
but he made them retrace their steps and dissembled his
anger, for D. Antonio Noronha, his nephew, was more to
blame in what he had done, than was Francisco de Sousa
in what he had said. And when this was over, Manuel
Fragoso returned from his mission to reconnoitre, and
brought word that the Moors had sunk a Malabar ship
laden with stone in the bed of the river, and the water
which came down from the mountains had such force, and
ran down with so great a fury, that it had broken out a new
bed in another part much further up.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque quitted the fortress and proceeded
to embark ; and how the HidalcSo entered it, and what he per
formed.
The great Afonso Dalboquerque now perceiving that there
was no remedy for these things, and being displeased at the
vacillation of his captains, and- convinced that they ought
not to abandon the fortress without at least making an

164 COMMENTARIES OP
attempt worthy of its importance to hold it, made up his
mind to withdraw to the ships,and commanded D.Antonio de
Noronha to superintend the re- embarkation of all the artil
lery, not only our own but also that of the Moors which had
been captured, and all the stores that could be collected,
and the women and the children and merchants who were
lodged in the fortress. And when everything had been
collected, Afonso Dalboquerque commanded Gaspar de
Paiva, chief alcaide of the city, to proceed to the fortress
and order his men to cut off the heads of Melique Qufe-
condal and of a hundred and fifty principal Moors of the
city, who had been detained therein in consequence of in
formation which Joao Machado had given him, and to ham
string all the horses that were in the stables, and to set fire
to the arsenals, wherein everything was consumed by fire
that could be of any service to the Moors.
When this business was over, Afonso Dalboquerque gave
word to his captains for each one to retire with his own
men, for he intended himself to be the last of all. And
our men were so anxious to see themselves out of the dan
gerous position that they then occupied, that they made
such a great hurry and fell into such disorder in carrying
out the order for re-embarking that, had it been done by
day, any of the enemy's people who came up could have
routed them. And when every one had quitted the shore,
Afonso Dalboquerque betook hiraself to the ships on a
Friday before daybreak, on the twentieth day of the month
of May, in the year '10, and immediately ordered the whole
fleet to set sail, and stood down the river in front of the
fortress of Pangij, because there the river is wider, and
there they would be safe from any accident befalling them,
— with the intention of waiting there until the water of
the bar deepened sufficiently to allow the ships to pass out
with safety.
Without any consideration, and in contravention of the

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 165
orders which Afonso Dalboquerque had given, Francisco de
Sousa Mancias,— who had been the first to set sail, — steered
immediately with a rapid course straight towards the bar,
but when Afonso Dalboquerque perceived this unauthorised
manoeuvre he sent Diogo Fernandez de Bdja in the gaUey
after him, and made him return, and when he was come
back reprehended him seriously for daring to depart with
out permission, and deprived him of the captaincy of his
ship, whereat he became very much displeased.
Directly that the Hidakao observed that our fleet had
sailed away, he despatched a brigantine to keep it in sight
and take note of its intentions, while he himself entered into
the fortress with aU his Turks and Rumes with great joy, and
many shouts and blowing of musical instruments, evincing
thereby his great delight at having thus at length brought
about a business for which he had so earnestly longed.
But when he entered the castle and beheld in its court
yard all the principal Moors of the land decapitated, he
became very sorrowful, and the outcries of all those who
accompanied him were so loud that the Hidalcao was quite
overcome at the sight of so much sorrow in a city which he
had captured with so much satisfaction to himself
And the Turks, too, and the Rumes as well on their
part, when they did not find their wives and children,
as they had expected, became very dejected, for it was
this hope of recovering them that had induced them to
undergo snch great hardships in their efforts to effect an
entry into the island. And whUe the Hidakao was thus
employed in this sorrowful task of consoling the fathers,
the sons, and the relatives of those that lay there dead, the
captain of the brigantine which he had sent out returned
and reported to him how aU the fleet of the Franks had.
dropped anchor opposite the fortress of Pangij, and how he
thought it was its intention to estabUsh itself there, because
the chief captain had despatched a galley after one of the

166 COMMENTARIES OF
ships which had sailed away in the direction of the bar, in
order to get away, and made it return again within the bar.
When the Hidalcao heard this, fearing lest Afonso Dal
boquerque should capture Pangij, and fortify his position
there, immediately sent JoSo Machado (in order to tem
porise with him while he could in the meantime provide
that fortress with means of resistance) in the same brigan
tine to go and treat for peace with him. And as soon as
this man had been sent forth on his journey, the Hidalcao
despatched a captain with four hundred Turks and two
thousand native peons, and artillery and all necessary muni
tions, and sent them to the fortress of Pangij to guard it,
and to do all the injury they could to our fleet, in order
that it should be compelled to weigh anchor and go away,
or at any rate to make some composition with him.
Joao Machado began to speak of terms of peace directly
he arrived, and after a lengthy interview that they held
upon this matter, Afonso Dalboquerque told him that at
the time when he held the fortress of Goa then he would
have forthwith entered into any peace and alliance with
the Hidakao ; but now that he was no longer master of
it, he would enter into no agreement without first of all
being replaced in Goa and all its revenues returned to
him, and the settled tribute paid to the King D. Manuel
for the lands that he had taken from the Indians, and he,
the Hidakao, become his subject and use only his flag,
and he would further have to give up DabuU in order that
a fortress might be constructed there; if he would per
form all this, then he would agree to a peace with him,
for Goa belonged to the King of Portugal and should ever
remain so.
Joao Machado retumed with this reply, and on the foUow-
' Daiwal, in the Bombay Presidency, 17 deg. 23 min. N., 73 deg. 33
min. E. ; not far frcon Caripatan, and north of Goa. See Berthelot's
Chart, quoted in previous pages.

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 167
ing morning the Hidakao sent again to desire of Afonso Dal
boquerque a hostage in order that two Turks — chief men, 
might proceed to speak with him. So Afonso Dalboquerque
sent D. Antonio de Noronha in a galley to converse with
the Turks, close by the fortress of Pangij, and Diogo Fer
nandez de B^ja to remain on the land as a hostage. And
when D. Antonio arrived at the appointed place he sent
Diogo Fernandez on shore, and the two Turks came down
to the galley to speak with him, and all three remained
a long space of time in conversation without coming to
any conclusion on any point, for of a truth they did not
really desire anything except a procrastination of events,
in order to gain time for the victualling of the fortress of
Pangij, which they effected; and when they took their leave
of D. Antonio they spoke with him in relation to the ran
soming of the women and children of the Turks and Rumes,
but D. Antonio undeceived them, for he did not intend to
surrender them for any consideration in the world ; and so it
turned out, for Afonso Dalboquerque took them away with
him when he departed, and on the occasion of the second
taking of Goa he converted them all to Christianity, and
found husbands for them, as wiU be related in due course
of time.
And when the Turks had left, D. Antonio received Diogo
Fernandez again and returned to the ships, and related
to his uncle all that had taken place ; and Diogo Fernandez
told him that whUe he was on land the Turks had made
him a great many grand speeches in Italian and in Cas-
tihan. Our people were stUl dejected at the past events, and
when they perceived that D. Antonio had come to no ar
rangement with the Turks, they concluded that all was lost,
and made their way to Afonso Dalboquerque and put ur
gent pressure upon him to saU over the bar, although they
aU knew very weU that the winter season was at its height,
and it was not the proper time to attempt to saU over any
bar in India.

168 COMMENTARIES OP

CHAPTER XXXV.
Of the council which the great Afonso Dalboquerque held whether he
should sail away over the bar, and what happened thereupon ; and
how he sent away Fernao Perez Dandrade, who was cast away.
In order to pacify this uproar into which the_ captains had
now induced all the people to enter, and in order to dissi
pate the disappointment which appeared to have taken hold
upon them, the great Afonso Dalboquerque convened a
meeting of the captains, masters, and pUots of the vessels;
and when all were assembled, he told them that he was
exceedingly astonished at their unreasonable conduct, for
although they knew that it was not the proper time of the
year to sail out over the bar, they were nevertheless exciting
the men to make requisitions upon him to be gone, and that
now they were all met together, masters and pilots, if they
would tell him what they thought best for him to do, he
would do it.
So whereas the captains were anxious to be gone, each one
of his own motion began immediately to declare that the
weather was favourable for sailing out over the bar, and it was
his duty to proceed to winter quarters elsewhere, because he
had a very short supply of provisions, and in these islands
there were no means of their being able to lay in a fresh
supply, for the Hidakao had laid hands upon everything ;
aud even if the weather should not permit them to reach
Cananor or Cochim, they could at least pass the winter at
Anjadiva;^ and thus they rambled on, alleging various other
' Anjadiva. The position of this Indian seaport, now no longer
marked on the maps, and apparently unknown to Pedro Berthelot when
making his Indian charts in 1635, which are inserted into Pedro
Barretto de Resende's work so often quoted in previous notes, ia plainly
marked in a very fine map of India contained in an atlas now in the
Map Department of the British Museum, and formerly in the possession
of Henry Cliapman (V of Lisbon), from whom the Board of Admiralty

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 169
reasons iti accordance with their own projects. But the
masters and pilots, on the other hand, said that they were
there in a broad and spacious place, with their ships securely
moored, where the inhabitants of the city could not do them
any harm, and even [if] this were not so, the bar was so
dangerous to navigate now, that even a barque, let it be of
ever so light a draught, could not go out over it ; and even
If it were taken for granted that they could pass out over
it without incurring any danger, there was no place that
they could pass the winter at ; for Anjadiva, a place that
had been proposed, could not admit of ships of so great a
size and so deep a draught being able to remain there at
that season of the year.
And at three or four assemblies which were held about
this affair, the pilots and masters always arrived at the same
conclusion, and the majority of the captains exactly the con
trary opinion ; and hereupon there were held many discus
sions, wherein they told Afonso Dalboquerque that all the
people of the fleet were ashamed of him., and declared that
he was anxious that they should all die of hunger there ; and
purchased it in 1792. " This manuscript," according to a note on the
first page, "appears to have been written in the year 1546, in the reign
of John ni, King of Portugal, when the Portuguese Nation had com
pleted their Discoverys and Conquests in Africa, Asia, and America,
at the time when their navigation and commerce was in the most flourish
ing state." The MS. is the work of Ferdmando Vaz or Femao Vaz Dou
rado, and a very fine specimen of Portuguese illuminated hydrography
of the middle of the sixteenth century. The places on the east coast
of India apparently known to Portuguese navigators at this period are
thus marked, commencing with the north— Gamdar, Baroche, Surate,
Damao, Danu, Ilha das uaqas, Agasai, Basaim, Bombai, Chaull, Damda,
Quele9i, Ceimado, Dabull, Zamgizara, Dobetelle, Ceitapor, Carapatao,
O Pagode, I. Qeimadd, Bamda, Goa, Agasai, I. do Sail, C. Daian, Am-
gediua, Onor, Batecalla, Os Pumdes, Barcellor, Bacanor, L de S. Maria,
Mangalor, Momte Fermoso, Mamgesirgo, Montedelli, Marabia, Baleapa-
tao, Cananor, Tremapatato, Coulete, Challe, Panane, etc. The names m
italic are in red ink, the others in black,— a distmction perhaps in
tended to shew Portuguese trade with, or possession of, the former class.

170 COMMENTARIES OP
many other things they told him, which I suppress in order
not to blame the dead nor shame those who are dead. When
Afonso Dalboquerque perceived that in contrary spirit to
the opinions of the pilots and masters the captains were ill-
disposed to brook their present troubles and had quite for
gotten that he was placed there as a govemor over them
all, he determined to venture the St. John, and ordered Fer
nao Perez Dandrade, who was the captain of this vessel, to
proceed to Anjadiva, and, taking advantage of the first fair
weather, bring back all the supplies he could possibly col
lect ; and, in addition, he ordered Timoja to accompany him
¦with two oi hia fustas to those ports, and bring away some of
the supplies also. And when they were ready they set out
and steered straight for the bar, but because the weather
was very bad and the sea stormy, they dropped anchor just
inside the bar and remained, in that position all the night,
and on the next morning at daybreak, when the weather
began to moderate, Fernao Perez came to the resolution,
with advice of his pilot, to make the attempt at getting
over the bar.
When Timoja observed the resolution which had been
taken, he told him on no account to weigh anchor, for even
if the weather were to clear up, it was not a fit occasion for
going over the bar, and if he endeavoured to do so he
would be lost. But Fernao Perez was so anxious to execute
the commands that had been delivered to him that he would
not listen to Timoja's advice, but weighed anchors, and
steered towards the bar, when it wanted but one watch to
the ebb, and because the water ran strongly down from
the mountains and the wind dropped, the ship grounded
upon the shallows, where it was wrecked, and, being old,
immediately went to pieces. As soon as Afonso Dalbo
querque saw the ship was wrecked, he sent off help in boats
to save the men, and every one was taken up, and the artil
lery and aU the fittings were saved. And when the cap-

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 171
tains saw how the vessel had been lost, then at length they
were convinced of the soundness of the advice which the
masters and pilots had offered, and there remained our fleet
for many days suffering great hardships.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

How the Captain who was stationed in Pangij began to harass our ships
with artillery; and how the great Afonso Dalboquerque acted with
our men thereat ; and how he would not accept the present which
the Hidalcao sent to him.
When the Hidalcao became aware that the great Afonso
Dalboquerque would not reply to the proposition conceming
an agreement of a peaceable nature between them, he has
tened more ' than ever to send the captain and men whom
he had told off for Pangij. And when this captain arrived at
the fortress he ordered his men without loss of time to attack
our ships with his artillery, and inflicted great damage upon
us in this manner. There was one day when they struck
us with fifty large cannon-balls, besides other smaller shot.
Our men were so disconcerted and dejected at this new dif
ficulty in which they were involved, that they began to
imagine that the Moors would be able to take the ships by
means of their rafts, and this fear seized them in such a
complete manner that Afonso Dalboquerque dared not try
to rouse them out of it by reprehension, lest he should
drive them to despair. But, on the contrary, when they
approached him for the purpose of giving him advice as to
what was best to be done in order to extricate himself from
the peril in which he was situated, he replied that he was
quite of the same opinion as themselves with regard to
everything they said, and that he would put it in action at
once, and then he went straightway to his chamber and cast
his eyes up to heaven and besought God to forgive his sins.

172 COMMENTARIES OP
for he felt that this dejection of the men could not be caused
by fear, but a divine visitation on account of his sins, for
he had the Girne, and the Flor de la Mar, — two ships so
powerful that they alone were sufficient to protect them
from the power of the Hidalcao.
And while the men were yet in this state of dejection two
of his men-at-arms fled away to the Moors, and told the
Hidakao of the plight in which our people were situated,
and of the great numbers of the sick that were in the fleet,
and how his artillery inflicted great havoc in our ships, and
that there was so much starvation among them that for
want of provisions they were eating up all the rats that
could be caught in the ships, and taking off the skins from
the leather-covered chests, and boiling them for food, and
every day they were making urgent request to the chief
captain to quit the river. But because Afonso Dalboquerque
was not willing to come to any terms with him, the Hidakao
attached but little credit to this relation which the two
Christian runaways told him ; and in order to make certain
that it was the truth, he made up his mind that he would send
a present of sheep and chickens, and other fresh provisions
from the land to Afonso Dalboquerque. And when the
Moor, who was dispatched for this purpose, had set out in a
barque with the present, he came alongside of Afonso Dal
boquerque's ship flying a white flag ; and Afonso no sooner
perceived the barque and the things that were on board
than he at once divined that this had been done because the
young fugitives had told the Hidakao of the great straits
to which the fleet was reduced, and he had sent the present
in order to make sure of the state they were in.
In order, therefore, to pay the Hidakao out in his own
coin, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered that the Moor should be
detained on board the ship, and told the master' to order
the men to cut a barrel in two through the middle, and set
it full of wine on the deck, and put all the biscuits that

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 173
remained into a sail — there was but little of this, and he
had reserved it for those who were sick, — and when all this
had been made ready, he gave the word to introduce the
Moor, who, when he had approached near to him, told him
that the Hidakao his master had been notified -of the great
need he was in from the lack of supplies, and because he
desired to be on friendly terms, and to be at peace and
in alliance with the King of Portugal (as indeed he had
frequently sent to say), he had sent him these fresh provi
sions; and if he required any victuals he should say so, for
he would then forward them to him: for, although there was
war between them, yet he, for his part, did not wish to carry
it on by hunger, but with the sword in the hand.
Afonso Dalboquerque told him to relate to the Hidakao
that he was greatly obliged to him for the remembrance
which he had of him, but it was not his ¦ custom to accept pre
sents from his enemies in the time of war, and with respect
to the provisions that he sent to offer him, in the fleet there
was so much biscuit and wine that all the ships were as
weU provided as he could see here for himself, and not
enough men to make use of these victuals. With this answer
from Afonso Dalboquerque, the Moor carried back the pre
sent he had bt-ought, and related to the Hidalcao all that he
had seen, and all that had passed in his interview with him.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

The council held by the great Afonso Dalboquerque respecting the
attack upon the fortress of Pangij ; and how he entered it, and
of the slaughter he made of the Moors therein.
When the great Afonso Dalboquerque became aware of
the great destruction which was inflicted upon his fleet by
the artillery that was mounted in the fortress of Pangij,
he determined, in spite of all obstacles that could arise, to

174 COMMENTAEIES OP
attack the fortress, and for the effecting of this object to
risk even life itself and all that remained. But in order
to decide how he should act in this matter he called a
meeting of all his captains, and told them that when first
he found himself outside Goa he had come to the conclusion
not to waste any more time in skirmishing with the Moors,
for he who could relinquish the walls of a city so noble as
that, ought not to care to be shooting arrows at a handful of
negroes ; but since it had so turned out that the artillery
that was mounted in the fortress of Pangij compelled him
to attack it, and he was thus forced to fight against his
will, therefore he begged them of their kindness to tell him
in what way he should act in order to achieve this object,
for he was thoroughly set upon making the attack. And
because in the deliberation which ensued there were nume
rous dissensions araong the captains, and divers deter
minations were arrived at, Afonso Dalboquerque desired to
be beforehand with them in everything before they could
reply to him, so he said that he would not force any one to
take part in this enterprise, but let them who were willing to
follow him, upon hearing one of Timoja's trumpets sounded,
assemble at his ship, for he intended, whether they were
few or many, to take those whom he found ready with him,
and go and fight the Moors who were stationed in the fort
ress, and relying upon the Passion of Our Lord he expected
to take them into his hands.
The captains perceived his intentions, and replied that
they would be with him in the projected enterprise, and
without holding any more consultation on this behalf — for
Afonso Dalboquerque was opposed to so doing, as he was
by this time rauch annoyed at the course of affairs, — every
one made his way to the ships to prepare hiraself, and that
very night a young man fled away from the fleet and con
trived to carry to the Hidakao news of the councU that had
been held and of the Intention which had been arrived at.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 175
No sooner had the Hidalcao become possessed of the news
which the young man had told him, than he summoned
a meeting of his captains — and among them was Joao Ma
chado, — and related to them all that the young man had
said, and enquired of them whether or not it would be
necessary to provide for Pangij a further supply of men and
artillery. All the captains were of the opinion that the
fortress contained a sufficient number of men for its defence,
and that assistance could very easily be sent to it whenever
any need shonld arise. But Joao Machado, who was the last
to speak, said that he was not of that opinion, but thought, on
the other hand, that some reinforcements should be sent there,
because if the statement made by the young man, that the
artillery placed in the fortress inflicted so much injury upon
the Portuguese ships, were true, it was certain that they
would make up their minds to take the place.
Then one ofthe captains, who had long been a rival of this
man, declared to the Hidakao, that all that JoBo Machado
had said was more like the opinion of a Christian than a Moor,
and that if he considered Pangij were in danger of being weak
in its defence, provided that he had five hundred Turks given
to him he would undertake, in combination with the other men
who were already there, to defend the position against the
entire Portuguese force. Joao Machado replied that the
reason he had given his opinion for reinforcing the place was
that he knewwell how determined the Portuguese were ; and
this captain was welcome to go, but he, Joao, would wager
that if the Portuguese behaved as he expected they would,
they would appear to this captain a sort of people whom
one would be unwiUing to attack with a small force only.
And as they then began to make use of angry words to
each other, for they had now for long time been unfriendly,
the Turkish captains interposed themselves between the dis
putants, and separated them ; and the Turkish captain pro
ceeded to take up his position in Pangij with the number of

176 COMMENTARIES OP
soldiers whom he had desired the Hidalcao to give him for
this purpose, . and it fell out that the reinforcement was
made on the very day that Afonso Dalboquerque attacked the
fortress. And the captain was received by those within it
with loud shouts, and blowing of musical instruments, and
bonfires, which were kept up all that night long.
Meanwhile, although the flight of the young man caused
Afonso Dalboquerque to have some misgiving with regard
to undertaking this expedition, it occurred to him that if
the Hidakao should be informed of his intentions, he would
hasten to supply the fortress with as many soldiers as he
had : — nevertheless, he would on no account withdraw from
that which he had already determined to do, and therefore,
when the time arrived, he ordered the trumpet to be sounded,
and all came on board his ship, and set out from that point,
on a Friday before daybreak, the fourteenth day of the
raonth of June. And as soon as they came to land, Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered Diogo Fernandez de Beja to take
twenty men and go and seize that gate of the fortress which
looked towards the city and remain there, for thither would
all make their way to his assistance. And to Dinis Fer
nandez, chief superintendent of the dockyards, he gave
orders that with fifty mariners and bombardiers he should
take care to carry off the great gun^ and aU the rest of the
artUlery that was in the fortress to the boats ; while he him
self took up a strong position with a body of soldiers on
the shore, ready to render assistance wherever it should be
required. When aU this had been thus arranged, at the sound of
the trumpets, the captains rushed with their men to attack
the bulwark with such fury, that without any stoppage they
entered into it, each one where he could best find a way.
And Manuel de Lacerda was the first who mounted upon
the top of the wall. The Moors, who were half asleep, and
' Camelo,

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 177
quite confident in the numbers of raen they had, found our
men already hand to hand with them when they wished to
make use of their weapons ; and when thoy perceived that
they were cut off, they took to flight and made their way to the
gate of the fortress at which Diogo Fernandez was posted.
And this party would have been entirely routed, owing to
the overwhelming nurabers of the Moors, had it not been
for Garcia de Sousa who came to their assistance, and on
arrival he found Diogo Fernandez and the greater part of
his men badly wounded, and tliree of thera kiUed. Just at
this moment the other captains came up following behind
the Moors, and united themselves into one body and fell
upon the eneray and immediately discomfited thera, so that
the fortress remained entirely evacuated by its defenders —
a force of about four thousand Turks and Moors.
In this engagement a hundred and fifty Turks and a hun
dred Hindoo peons, and three captains of the Hidakao
were killed on the enemy's side ; and of ours about five
hundred Portuguese, all fidalgos and important men in the
fleet, who, being few in number, then performed a deed
worthy of the highest praise — for, in nobly born minds, the
dread of infamy of defeat overcomes every peril and every
fear. And by this time Dinis Fernandez had carried away all
the Moorish artillery to the boats, as well as the two camelos,
which they had forraerly taken from Garcia de Sousa at
Benastarim, and five falcoes, that had been taken in the
tower of Agacij, and a quantity of bows, arrows, and lances ;
and then Afonso Dalboquerque withdre^v with all his men
and betook himself again to the ships. And when every
one had retired the Hindoos came and burned all the dead
bodies — according to their custom, — and by this victory,
which our people obtained over the Turks, Joao Machado
acquired greater credit than ever with the Hidakao by rea
son of what I have said, and because his rival was dead.

178 COMMENTARIES OP

CHAPTER XXXVIIL
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent Diogo Fernandez de Beja
and the other captains in the galleys to reconnoitre the city and
get true information respecting the fleet which was being made ;
and how D. Antonio, in succouring them, was killed.
After the great Afonso Dalboquerque had withdrawn with
his forces to the ships, having obtained this victory — news
having in the meantime reached him that the Hidakao had
built a fleet of twenty-five sails, of jjar dos, fustas, and watch-
boats, armed with quantities of artillery and coiled cables,
and painted flags,^ and many men on board, with intention of
setting fire to the Portuguese shipping — he dispatched Diogo
Fernandez de B^ja in a- gaUey, and Afonso Pessoa and
Simao Martinz in two others, to go and reconnoitre the city
and observe whether this fleet that was reported was really
being built. As soon as Diogo Fernandez and his com
panions had set out, Afonso Dalboquerque comraanded
Antonio de Noronha, his nephew, to make himself ready
with all his captains in the boats belonging to their ships,
in order to be able to render assistance to Diogo Fernandez,
If it should be necessary to do so. And because, from the
position in which the fleet was placed, neither the gaUeys
nor the city could be seen by those on board — on account of
their being hidden by a bend which the river makes there,
— Afonso Dalboquerque gave orders to Diniz Fernandez to
take up such a position in a pardo in the middle of the
stream that he could observe both one and the other.
The Turks, who were by this time quite prepared, no
sooner caught sight of our galleys, than they gave the word
to weigh anchors and set off with the Intention of rowing up
to them. And then Diniz Fernandez, who had them in
' Padeses. It is difficult to fix the meaning of this word ; it is pos
sible that it may meaxi flags or banners.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 179
sight, as soon as he saw that the fleet of the Turks was
under weigh, made a signal to D. Autonio de Noronha, who
started forth imraediately, rowing vvith all his might and
main,^ in company with all his captains. And because the
tide was full, they very soon came in sight of the fleet of the
Turks, and as quickly as possible D. Antonio de Noronha
called out to Diogo Fernandez and the other captains who
were of his party to row on and attack two watchboats
which were making their way in front of the fleet. When
Diogo Fernandez and the other captains, who were now
lying-to upon their oars, perceived the succour which was
approaching them, they gave orders to row on more rapidly
and keep on their course, gradually approaching to the fleet
of the Turks, and began to fire upon them with their artil
lery ; and it fell out that the shot from one of the guns that
were in the galley of Diogo Fernandez struck the watch-
boats, which were just ahead of them, and knocked them to
pieces, and all the Moors were killed who were contained in
them, some being killed by the discharges of the gun,
and others being drowned in the river. And by this time
D. Antonio and all the captains had come up and combined
with Diogo Fernandez into one body.
Seeing the determination of our people, the Turks turned
back towards the city, and Dom Antonio, with all the cap
tains, continued to follow them up, until they ran aground at
the dock, where many Moors were drawn up with the inten
tion of resisting the fierce onset which our party was about
to make ; but when the ordnance on board the galleys be
gan to tell upon them and killed several among them, they
deserted the dock and retired to the city. D. Antonio, who
proceeded towards onS of our galoots which had remained
on the stocks in progress of building, when the retreat took
place, seeing that she was moored by cables on the land and
without anyone on board, ranged up alongside of her in his
> .1 i-oga arrancada.

180 COMMENTARIES OP
boat, and having landed, boarded her with his party, intend
ing to launch her into the sea. And if all the others had
acted likewise the galeot would not have remained on land,
and he himself would not have been klUed ; but as it was,
the Moors soon observed that D. Antonio was not well sup
ported by our men, so they rallied round the galeot, and the
contest raged on this side and on that in such a manner
that three captains of the Hidakao lay dead, and many of
our people wounded, without their being able to dislodge
the galeot, until at length they wounded D. Antonio with
an arrow in the left knee, a wound which soon became so
serious that he could not stand upon that leg, and being
thus in very great pain, he left the galeot and withdrew into
his boat again, and all the others lost no time in sheering
off. And after this victory or disaster, — I know not which
to call it, for there so rarely valiant a captain as D. Anto
nio was finished his days, — they all returned to the ships.
But because he experienced great pain In his leg, he was
unwiUing that they should take him to his uncle's ship, so
he went to the Girne, of which he was the captain.
When Afonso Dalboquerque was informed of this disaster,
he got into his skiff and went to see him, and found him
already grievously stricken for death, and there were held
many consultations as to the advisability of amputating the
leg, but he would never consent, thinking that the evil was
not so serious as to call for so severe a remedy, and thus he
remained suffering great agony of pain until the eighth day
of July, when he was attacked by a spreading inflammation,!
which carried him off. And there was not a single person
in the whole of the fleet who was not deeply affected, but
especially his uncle, in that he had bSen deprived of him at
a season when he most needed his personal assistance, his
advice, and his knightly example. And then, letting faU
many tears, Afonso Dalboquerque gave orders to bury him
' Erpes.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 181
at the foot of a tree, and when Goa was captured for the
second time, he ordered his remains to be removed to the
principal church ; and he himself, at his death, left direc
tions in his will that they should be removed to his chapel
of Our Lady of the Mountain, which he built in the city of
Goa, as will be related hereafter.
D. Antonio de Noronha was the son of D. Fernando de
Noronha and of D. CostauQa de Castro, the sister of Afonso
Dalboquerque, and younger brother to D. Alvaro de No
ronha. He was a very brave cavalier, and never found
himself placed in any position which caused him any fear.
He was very virtuous, and God-fearing, and very truthful.
He was found side by side with Afonso Dalboquerque in
every one of the troubles which up to the hour of his death
had come upon him. He died at the age of twenty-four
years, four having elapsed since he had set out frora Portu
gal with his uncle in the fleet of Tristao da Cunha.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

The message which the HidalcSo sent to the great Afonso Dalboquerque,
desiring that he would make peace with him, and further proceed
ings.
Inasmuch as the Hidakao was far more anxious of making
peace with the great Afonso Dalboquerque than of taking
vengeance upon him for the defeat which our men had
visited him with at the fortress of Pangij, after the space
of a few days following this event, he sent two Turks, men
of importance, to confer with Afonso Dalboquerque on the
subject, and they, when they had come to the waterside
opposite Pangij, began to make signals with their flags.
Then Afonso Dalboquerque sent Gaspar Rodriguez, the in
terpreter, to land, to discover what they required.
The Turks told him to inform the chief captain that the

182 COMMENTARIES OP
Hidakao had sent them there to arrange terms of peace, and
that he must send someone to confer with them. But as he
was completely disgusted with their lying he would have
nothing to say to them. Yet, nevertheless, in order that
he might let no good opportunity escape him, he sent Pero
Dalpoem in a boat well provided with men, to go and talk
with them. Now whenever they came to discuss terms of
peace, they always used to bring in their company certain
Portuguese, who, having become Moors, were living among
them, well dressed, and .mounted on horses in accordance
with their custom, and accompanied by canopies of state,-'
and these men used to give utterance to all manner of un-
courteous words, and endeavoured to persuade our men to
desert us and go to the Hidakao — for besides gaining from
him good wages thereby, they would spend there a very
happy life, and become free of the troubles and shortness of
food which they experienced with us.
Afonso Dalboquerque being angry at the vagabond be
haviour of these Portuguese, and at the worthlessness of
the Moors, in order to put an end to these shameful acts,
told Pero Dalpoem to take with him a musqueteer, and If
any of those vagabonds should come near them, he was to
order his musqueteer to shoot him. Pero Dalpoem went off,
and when he had arrived at the waterside, where the Turks
were stationed, they began to discuss terms of peace, and
there came up Joao Delras, a Galllcian— he formerly had
been a mariner — who among our men served as a surgeon,
together with others his companions, he being mounted on
a horse very finely caparisoned, and clad in the attire of a
1 Sombreiros de Estado. Bluteau describes at full length the Sombreiro
do pe alto, which appears to have been a large kind of umbrella or
canopy, used in India and China as a, sign of nobility ; and says "the
men who carry this sombreiro are called in India Boy, and some of them
are so dexterous in shading the sun, that running as fast as a horse, with
the sombreiro in their hands, the sun does not ever strike upon their
master's body."

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 183
Moor, with his servants and sombreiro : and he began to
harangue in very discourteous terras. Then Pero Dalpoem
seeing how Joao Delras was proceeding with his wonted
tales, told Joao Dilhanes, the bombardier, whom he had
taken with him for this purpose, to shoot him, and he
would hold him harmless. And as Joao Delras was march
ing up and down, not far from the edge of the shore,
putting his horse through its paces, and saying all kinds of
things that came into his head, Joao DUhanes, who was a
very accurate marksman, fired off his matchlock, and down
fell the vagabond dead upon the ground, whereat the Turks
became very much alarmed.
But when Pero Dalpoem perceived how terrified they
were at beholding the sudden death of Joao Delras, he told
them that the man had been condemned to death by just
sentence, on account of his flight to the Moors, aud conse
quently, in accordance with the law of the King of Portugal,
any one could put him to death, wheresoever he might find
him ; he was sorry that it had taken place before their
eyes, but he would beg them of their goodness, if hence
forth they should come to talk about making peace, or about
any other matter, not to bring In company with them any
of those worthless fellows, for they made many very dis
honourable speeches, but if they would continue to do so, it
would be necessary to put them all to death.
The Turks replied that they were very sorry that at a
time when they had met to talk of peace and friendship,
these feUows should say anything to hurt the feeUngs of
the Portuguese, and on this account, that which Pero Dal
poem had ordered to be done, had been done with very
good reason, and there should be no more of these visits.
And when these conversations were concluded, the Turks
took their leave of Pero Dalpoem, and went away without
having arrived at any conclusion, and Pero Dalpoem betook
himself to the ship of Afonso Dalboquerque, and related to
him all that had taken place.

184 COMMENTARIES OP

CHAPTER XL,
How the HidalcSo sent one of his principal captains back again to
speak with the great Afonso Dalboquerque respecting peace ; and
of the reply given to him, and what passed with him concerning
Timoja.
Five days after the conclusion of this negotiation, which
Pero Dalpoem had held with the two Turks, they began
again to make signals with a flag from the fortress of
Pangij. Afonso Dalboquerque sent to see what it was,
and news was carried to him that there was a chief captam
of the Hidalcao, whose name was Mostafaqao,! desirous of an
interview with him, if he would send a hostage to remain on
land. But as Afonso Dalboquerque was greatly distressed
at the death of D. Antonio, his nephew, he would not have
any thing to say to this captain. Yet the Portuguese
captains explained to him that inasmuch as the Hidalcao
had sent a captain of so high a rank as this messenger
manifestly was, it must be because he intended to perform
all that was demanded of him, and therefore he ought to
consent to see him and to hear what he had to say, for it
was possible that he might propose some settlement which
should meet with their universal approbation. And, there
upon, although it was against his will, at this opinion ofthe
captains, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered them to get ready
a pardo, all carpeted over with silken stuffs, and bade Cas
par de Paiva, and Diogo Fernandez de B^ja, and Pero
Dalpoem, to get into it and proceed to shore, and bring
the captain to him ; and with these he sent Francisco
Corvinel,^ and Diogo Fernandez, the Adail of Goa, to re-
1 Evidently the Portuguese rendering of the Arabic Mustafa Khan.
2 Francisco Corvinel was the Armador or Armourer of the fleet which
accompanied Dom Fernando Coutinho to India in 1509. See page 56
note.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 185
main behind as hostages, and Gaspar Rodriguez the inter
preter to go on land also with the messages. And when the
pardo was ready, they set out ; and having arrived in front
of the fortress of Pangij, Pero Dalpoem sent Gaspar Rod
riguez the interpreter to shore in an almadia, to inform the
Turks that the great Afonso Dalboquerque had commanded
him to come there in that pardo in order to convey their
captain to his ship, and that he had at the same time
brought the hostages with the intention of leaving them on
shore. The Turks forthwith sent to reply to him that Mosta
facao was a man of the very highest rank, and one of the
most superior captains in the service of the Hidalcao, and
that he had in his retinue two Turks who were men of very
great position; therefore if they brought D. Antonio de
Noronha — it appears that they did not yet know that D.
Antonio was dead — as a hostage to remain on shore, these
three should go to Afonso Dalboquerque, but if not, they
must go back again. Pero Dalpoem replied that Dom
Antonio had not come with them, for he was very ill, but
that two men of very high rank, servants and captains of
the King of Portugal, had come for this purpose. And at
this reply the Turks were quite contented and sent word
for them to be landed.
Then Pero Dalpoem dispatched them at once in the
almadia, and in it was conveyed back to him Mostafaqao,
with the two noble Turks, who went on board the pardo,
and made their way to the admiral's flagship, where Afonso
Dalboquerque was stationed with all the captains, fidalgos,
and honourable persons in the fleet, on the quarter-deck of
the ship, which had been decorated for this interview. And
Afonso Dalboquerque stepped out to receive the envoy at
the edge of the deck, and showed him much attention, and
after much politeness had passed between them, Mosta-
faqao said that he wished to deliver a message to him from

186 COMMENTAEIES OP
the Hidalcao, but it could not be delivered before so large
a concourse of persons.
Then Afonso Dalboquerque stood up, and withdrew with
him and the two Turks into his private chamber, taking
with him Cogebequi, and Lourengo de Paiva, secretary, and
Pero Dalpoem, Ouvidor^ of India; and when all were seated,
Mostafagao gave him many kind messages on the part
of the Hidalcao and of all his captains, saying that although
war between them was still going on, it was the custom of
captains in times of peace to send and receive compliments
to and from one another; and proceeding with his remarks,
he told Afonso Dalboquerque that the Hidakao his lord,
being very desirous of having peace, had sent him thither
to perform everything that was desired of him; for he
would be very glad if any kind of alliance could be arrived
at between them ; and that the Hidakao would be very
delighted to surrender Goa to him, so earnestly did he wish
for his friendship, but the Turks would not permit him to
give up the city ; but he begged him earnestly that he
would be pleased to take Cintacora, with all its lands and
great revenue, for there was there a very good harbour,
where he could construct a fortress if he desired.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he had no cause of
complaint against the Hidalcao, for all the events of the
war were guided by the will of Our Lord ; and although
for the present he had been driven out of Goa, yet a time
would come when the tables would be turned; but as for
everything else that he said he was determined on no
account to accept any other thing except the island of Goa,
with all its lands, and therefore if the Hidakao chose to
give it up, then they could become friends, but if not, then
there was no use in talking any more about it.
Mostafacao answered that the Hidakao, his lord, would
> Ouvidor, a kind of Judge or Magistrate, here evidently the chief
magistrate.

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 187
not surrender the island of Goa, because he had gained
possession of it, and if he were to yield it up again, he
would lose a great portion of his estate and his prestige ;
and then he went close up to Afonso Dalboquerque, and
told him in the course of his conversation, that he thought
that the Turks would consent to the surrender of Goa, if
he would give up Timoja to the Hidalcao his lord. Afonso
Dalboquerque was so afironted at the thought of Mostafagao
proposing such a thing as the betrayal of Tiraoja, that he
answered sternly he was very much surprised at his daring
to propose such a course of conduct as that to him, for
Timoja had always been a very loyal servant of his lord the
King D. Manuel, and for his services he was worthy of
great consideration and honour ; and let him say to the
Hidak-ao that the kingdom of Goa was a possession of his
lord the King D. Manuel as long as his captain-general of
India so chose ; and he would promise him, before that
sumraer should pass away, that he would be taking his rest
again in the palace at Goa, and that he hoped to make
Timoja a very great lord in the kingdom of Decan; and then
the Hidakao would learn whether the counsel which the
Turks gave him was good or not ; and then he took his
leave of him, and he went back in the pardo as he had
come, and Diogo Fernandez and Francisco Corvinel, who
had reraained on shore as hostages, were brought back.

CHAPTER XLI.

How matters stood between the great Afonso Dalboquerque, at anchor
in the river at Goa, and certain Captains, respecting the hangiug
of Kuy Diaz ; and how he determined to send D. Joao de Lima
with the sick men to Cochim.
At the time that the grand Afonso Dalboquerque was
riding at anchor In the river of Goa, suffering all these

188 COMMENTAEIES OP
hardships which I have detailed, with his forces prostrated
by sickness and his supplies of food very much reduced,
and all the while the weather remaining so foul that there
was no means of any one of them getting over the bar, in
formation was brought to him that for many days past a
certain Ruy Diaz,' a man-at-arms, had been in the habit of
entering into the apartments of the Moorish women whom
he had taken prisoners in Goa. When he learned this, fear
ing lest Our Lord should visit him with some severe punish
ment unless he showed himself capable of appreciating the
dangers of this situation, he summoned before him Pero
• This event, which is told in the Commentaries with the simplicity
which characterises the whole of the text, has been thrown into, perhaps,
unnecessary prominence by all the biographers of Afonso Dalboquer
que, because Camoes devotes considerable space to the case. The
passage in the Lusiad is as follows : —
"Mais estan9as canlara esta sirena
Em louvor do illustrissimo Albuquerque,
Mas alembrou-lhe huma ira, que o coudeua,
Postoque a fama sua o mundo cerque.
O grande capitSo, que o fado ordena
Que com trabalhos gloria eterna merque,
Mais ha de ser hum brando companheiro
Para os seus, que juiz cruel, e inteiro.
" Mas em tempo que femes, e asperezas,
Doen^as, frechas, e trovoes ardentes,
A sazao, e o lugar fazem cruezas
Nos soldados a tudo obedientes,
Parece de selvaticas brutezas,
De peitos inhumanos, e insolentes,
Dar extreme supphcio pela culpa,
Que a fraca humandade, e Amor desculpa.
" Nao serd, a culpa abominoso incesto,
Nem violeuto estupro em virgem pura,
Nem menos adulterio deshonesto ;
Mas c'huma escrava vil, lasciva, e escura:
Se o peito, ou de cioso, ou de modesto,
Ou de usado a crueza fera e dura,
Co'os seus huma ira insana nao refrea,
Poe na fama alva noda negra e fea.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 189
Dalpoem, the Ouvidor, and impressed very strongly upon
him the need of privately obtaining information concerning
the progress of this business (and to assist him he appointed
" Vio Alexandre Apelles namorado
Da sua Campaspe, e deo-lha alegremente,
Nao sendo seu soldado exprimentado,
Nem vendo-se n'hum cerco duro e urgente.
Sentio Cyro que andava ja abrazado,
Araspas de Panthea em fogo ardente.
Que elle tomara em guarda, e proraettia,
Que nenhum mdo desejo o venceria :
"Mas vendo o illustre Persa, que vencido
Fora de Amor, que em fim nao tem defensa,
Levemente o perdoa, e foi servido
Delle n' hum caso grande em recompensa.
Por forcja, de Juditha foi marido
O ferreo Baldovino ; mas dispensa
Carlos, pai della, posto em cousas grandes,
Que viva, e povoador seja de Frandes." Camoes, Lus., x, 45-49.
"... Here with a sighful frown
The goddess paused, for much remained unsung,
But blotted with an humble soldier's wrong.
Alas ! she cries, when war's dread horrors reign,
And thundering batteries rock the fiery plain,
When ghastly famine on a hostile soil,
When pale disease attends a weary toil.
When patient under all the soldier stands.
Detested be the rage which then demands
The humble soldier's blood, his only crime
The amorous frailty of the youthful prime !
Incest's cold horror here no glow restrained,
Nor sacred nuptial bed was here profaned.
Nor here unwelcome force the virgin seized ;
A slave lascivious, in his fondling pleas'd.
Resigns her breast — Ah, stain to Lusian fame !
('Twas lust of blood; perhaps 'twas jealous flame ;)
The leader's rage, unworthy of the brave,
Consigns the youthful soldier to the grave.
Not Ammon thus Apelles' love repaid.
Great Ammon's bed resigned the lovely maid :

190 COMMENTAEIES QF
as his scrivener Lourengo de Paiva to be secretary) ; and if
they should find Ruy Diaz guilty, he bade them arrest him and
proceed against him in accordance with the rules of justice.
Pero Dalpoem began to prepare his act of accusation
privately, and discovered by the testimony of many persons
that Ruy Dias had for some days been in the habit of
entering the apartments of the women. And when he con
sidered the nature of the crime, and the place and the
occasion in which it had been committed, he adjudged
that the perpetrator should be executed; so he ordered
that he should be hanged In the ship Flor da Rosa, of
which Bernaldim Freire was captain. And when the
Meirinho proceeded to put the execution of this sen
tence In force, which the Ouvidor had ordered him to
perform, there went out from the small galley — where they
had all met together — Simao Dandrade, captain thereof,
Fernao Perez his brother, Jorge Fogaga, Francisco de Sa,
and Bernaldim Freire, and passed alongside ofthe ship
Flor da Rosa, where the Meirinho was hanging Ruy Diaz,
and put on board her Bernaldim Freire and Francisco de Sa;
and when these two had gone on board, Francisco de Sa went
immediately with a drawn sword in his hand to the bow
sprit of the ship, and cut the rope and drew him into the
ship. When the Meirinho perceived that they had rescued the
prisoner, he began to cry in a loud voice for Afonso Dal
boquerque to send him assistance, for they had rescued the
delinquent. And Fernao Perez Dandrade, Simao Dan
drade, and Jorge Fogaga in their pardo went up and down
Nor Cyrus thus reproved Araspas' fire ;
Nor haughtier Carlo thus assumed the sire,
Though iron Baldwin to his daughter's bower,
An ill-match'd lover, stole in secret hour :
With nobler rage the lofty monarch glow'd
And Flandria's earldom on the knight bestow'd.
Mickle's Lusiad, bk. x.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 191
among the fleet, and began to wave white cloths from one ship
to the other, as signals, requiring the captains, on the part
of the king, to forbid the execution of that man. The up
roar, however, was so great throughout the fleet that they
were not understood ; and the captains, not knowing what
was taking place, gave orders to haul their boats on board,
and every one began to make himself ready to go and give
help wherever it should be required. Afonso Dalboquerque
perceiving the disturbed state of the fleet, and that the
captains were making signals with white cloths, and having
by this time received a message from the Meirinho that the
prisoner had been rescued, got into his boat with fifty
armed men, and proceeded to" bear down upon the pardo
which contained Fernao Perez, Simao Dandrade, and Jorge
Fogaga, with the intention of putting them down at once,
and with them all those who had rallied at their outcries.
But when these men saw him in his boat, they ceased
going from ship to ship, and went straight to meet hira ;
and when they carae up, Afonso Dalboquerque inquired of
them what all the disturbance was about which they were
making, for every one was terrified with a false report that
it was the Turks coming to set fire to the fleet : and why
they were calling out Murder,' for was not justice to be
meted out to a man who had committed that crime at_ a
season when it was more fitting to be sitting in sackcloth
than .undertaking such gallantries ; and that he had com
manded that execution to be performed on his own respon
sibility. And while he was thus speaking, Jorge Fogaga leaped
into his boat, and exclaimed that he ought not to have
ordered such a sentence to be carried out in such a manner
upon a man of so honourable a position as Ruy Diaz was,
and he must at once produce the acts and testimony, and
the power he possessed for acting in such a manner ; and
' E porque hradavam da parte del Rey.

192 COMMENTAEIES OP
Fernao Perez Dandrade and Simao Dandrade concurred
also in this way of thinking; only what they said was
couched in more respectful terms of speech.
The great Afonso Dalboquerque determined to chastise
these men, in order that this want of respect shown towards
his personal authority should not pass without punishment
according to its proper deserts, so he compelled them to go
on board his own ship, and caused them to be taken below
deck, loaded with irons, and ordered the Ouvidor to go to
the Flor da Rosa, and at once give the necessary commands
for hanging Ruy Diaz. Afterwards, in the formal inquiry
which was made respecting these proceedings, Francisco de
Sa was found to be deeply involved, therefore Afonso Dal
boquerque commanded that he should be arrested, and put in
irons below deck along with the others, and as for Bernal
dim Freire, he only suspended him from the captainship of
his vessel, for it was proved in evidence that he had been
beguiled by Francisco de Sa.
When these captains had been arrested, the people in the
fleet became more quiet and free from the uproars which
had been going on every day, and the other captains from
that time forward became more polite and frank in their
conversation. And on the conclusion of all this, the fifteenth
day of July being already come, on account of the numbers
that were prostrated with sickness, and the want of proper
supplies in the fleet for their cure, and the great need of
supphes, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered D. Joao de Lima to
make ready as chief captain of a squadron of four ships,
whereof the captains were Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco,
Luiz Coutinho, Francisco Pereira, and Antonio de Mates,
who were to force a passage out, and send him back what
ever supplies they could gather up, loaded into two of the
four ships ; and if they were to find in Anjadiva any captain
who had arrived thither from Portugal, to tell him, on the
part of Afonso Dalboquerque, that he must make his way to

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 193
the bar of Goa, and there anchor to help and succour him,
and Nuno Vaz was to be sent on from Anjadiva with the
sick men to Cochim ; and he gave him a written note of
instructions which he-was to carry out, and where he was to
wait for him : and he ordered Timoja to go in his watch-
boats to Onor, where he could also get some supplies. And
when all was prepared, the squadron set sail, and went
straight towards the bar ; but on account of the high wind
the ships could not pass over the bar ; so they cast anchor
close to the bank, and there remained waiting for an oppor
tunity to get out and prosecute their voyage.

CHAPTER XLIL

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail with the intention of sailing
away over the bar with the whole of the fleet : and the reason why
he did not do so, and what further passed.
D. Joao had now set saU with the small vessels, and
Timoja with his watch-boats, as I have already stated, and
as the great Afonso Dalboquerque found himself every day
insulted by the captains and the men with requisitions that
he would get away from Goa, although it was not a proper
season of the year to go to Cananor, nor to Cochim, nor was
the bar sufficiently deep in water to enable them to force a
way through, he decided, in order to arrive at a definite
understanding with them all, and also in order to demon
strate to them that what they desired could not possibly be
carried out, to give them an opportunity to have their own
way. And consequently in five or six days' time — this
would be about the twenty-first of July — he ordered the
whole fleet to set sail, and proceeded to the bar, where they
found D. Joao de Lima and Timoja still at anchor, because
the weather was as yet not of that kind that they could get
over the bar.

194 COMMENTAEIES OP
As soon as the Hidakao discovered that our fleet was in
full sail, he suspected that they were bound immediately for
an outward voyage over the bar, and sent Rogak-ao' with
all the soldiers, both foot and horse, that he had In the city,
to make the best way they could by land straight to the
bar, and see if they could inflict any injury upon our ships
as they were passing over. And on his arrival, Ropalcao
lost no time in getting a large gun which he had in his train
set up in position in a high wood on the side near to
Bradez, which overlooks the entry of the bar, and from that
place the enemy began to aim at our ships, and sent four
cannon-balls into the side of the Flor de la Mar, and all the
others were badly struck by the gun, and some men were
killed. But because the weather again commenced to be
very threatening, and our fleet was no longer secure in the
position then occupied, they set sail back again to the old
position which they had formerly occupied, and anchored
there ; and D. Joao, with his ships, and Timoja, with his
watch-boats, also accompanied the fleet in its return.
When the news was spread in the city that Afonso
Dalboquerque had returned to his old position within the
bar, so great was the uproar and panic among those who
had remained in the fortress — because it was entirely
destitute of soldiers, every one having been taken to co
operate in the enemy's movements at the bar — that the
Hidakao fled away with his women and abandoned it.
And after that all the ships had been moored, Afonso Dal
boquerque, on account of the urgent necessity for provisions
under which they laboured, sent orders forthwith to Garcia
de Sousa to start that very night with the gaUeys, pardos,
and boats, and make a descent upon one of the islands in
the river of Goa, and endeavour as best he could to coUect
some provisions.
And all were ready for the expedition which started at
' The Portuguese transliteration of a native name, perhaps, Rasul-
Khan.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 195
midnight, and proceeded up the river, and attacked an island
where some rice and a few cows, and palmito'^, and other fresh
food were obtained, and the men took captive two daughters
of a Brahman (Bram^ind) of Goa, whom they found upon the
island, and they set fire to the houses, and returned by the
break of day ; and Afonso Dalboquerque commanded that
everything that had been obtained should be divided
equally among all the people in the fleet, at which all were
pleased. After five or six days had elapsed, Timoja made his way
to Afonso Dalboquerque, and told hira that the Brahman,
the father of the girls whom Garcia de Sousa had captured,
had sent him word, saying, that on condition that his two
daughters were restored he would give to the Portuguese
information where there was a small zamhuco, laden with
rice and other native grain, and that they could also make
a raid upon the island where it was. So Afonso Dalbo
querque agreed to this, and delivered up the girls, and
ordered Diogo Fernandez de Beja and Gaspar de Paiva to
take their boats and go, in company with Timoja, to that
cunningly planned rendezvous of the Brahman ; and the
appointed party did so, and went by night, and reached
the island, where he was waiting for them, and there
they took possession of the zambuco and fifty cows, and
^ Bluteau gives the following account of the Palmito — "Toma-se por
qualquer palma pequena ; mas propriamente he o olho da palmeyra, e a
parte interior, ou miolo do seu tronco, e finalmente o ponto, e como o
centro donde sahem todos os ramos da arvore. He hua substancia alva
como leyte coalhado, miuto tenra, e de melhor gosto que os melhores
doces ; he alimento tao salutifero, que ainda que se coma muyto delle
nao offende. Dos palmitos de coqueyras, que tambem se chamao pal-
meyras diz o P. Fr. Joao dos Santos, no 3. livro da Ethiopia Oriental,
cap. II. ' O olho destas palmeyras se come tambem, e he muyto excel-
lente, e saboroso, ao quai chamao Palmito.' Quando querem comer estes
palmitos, cortao as palmeyraa pelo p6, e depois de Ihe cortarem todas os
palmas do olho, e a casca de f6ra, fioa o palmito limpo, alvo, e fermoso,
de mais de hum covado, e de quatro, ou cinco palmos de roda."

196 COMMENTAEIES OF
Timoja gave him back his daughters whom he carried with
him. This done, the party re-assembled and returned before
morning came ; and as it was now the end of July, and
small vessels could get out over the bar with less risk of
danger, therefore Afonso Dalboquerque commanded D.
Joao de Lima to set sail at once, and he told Timoja to go
to Onor and make ready for him all the provisions that
could be obtained, for he had made up his mind — having
received information that the Hidalcao wished to depart —
to wait where he was at Goa with his great ships for the
fleet which was coming from Portugal.'
After that D. Joao de Lima had set sail, the captains,
' The expeditions from Portugal to India in this year are thus briefly
tabulated in the "Armada da India", Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 20902, f. 13.
" Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos, Cappitam m6r.
Anno de 1510;
" 4 Vellas a 12 de Mar90.
" Diogo Mendez de Vascosellos Cap. moor de quatro naos : partyo a
doze de Margo pera Ir conquistar Malaca: Capitaes Balthazar da Sylua,
Pero Caresma, Misser Serniche armador ;* e no mesmo anno partio por
capitao de tres Carauellas, Joao Serrao : Capitaes Pero de Sousa, Gaspar
Cao ; e isto para descubrir a Ilha de Sao Lourengo e asentar nella feitoria
que nao teve efeito.t
"Neste mesmo anno Gongalo de Siqueira Capitao moor de sete naos
partio a desaseis de mar(;o : J Capitaes Lourenco Moreno, Joao de Aueiro,
Jorge nunes de Leao, Lourenco Lopez, Manoel da Cunha, que se perdeo
Junto a MoQabique, Diogo lobbo d'Alualade.
"Diogo mendes de Vasconselos nao pasou a Malaca como Ihe El Key
mandaua por Iho impedir o Gouernador Affonso d' Albuquerque.
" Destas quatorze na6s as primeiras quatro de que era Cappitam

* Outra Relasao Ihe-chtima Diniz Cerniche armador da nao em que hia.
t Joao Serram Cappitam mSr de tres vellas, ou Caravellas partiu no mez de
Agosto de 1510. Outra Relaoao chama a Pero de Souza Payo de Souza, e nao
declara o nome do outro Cappitam, e s6 diz, que era Cavalleiro da Caza del
Rey. t Gon9alo de Siqueira Cappitam mor de 7 naos partiu a 16 de Mar90,
Manoel da Cunha era filho de Tristao da Cuuha, perdeu-se — Jorge Nunes de
Leam foy na naS Sta. Anna Enxobregas — Joao de Aueiro por ser muy suflSciente
na Arte do Mar, servia tambem de Piloto ua nao 5. Sebastiam em que foy.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 197
who by this time had divined the intentions of Afonso
Dalboquerque, went to him and made many and earnest
demands upon him to sail away out of the river, and go to
Cochim, where he could refit his fleet, for there were not
sufficient provisions on board if they were to remain where
they were. And Afonso Dalboquerque replied that if
they, the captains, felt themselves pinched by need of sup
phes, he himself also had not escaped the same, and that
he earnestly hoped they would yet put up with troubles for
a little longer, and rally the spirits of the men who had
been kept in a constant state of alarm, for he had been
credibly informed that the lords of the kingdom of Decan
had risen up in rebeUion against the Hidakao, and his
officers kept on sending him, day after day, letters and
broken arrows, which were signs that his men wei-e be
sieged ; and thus the Hidakao would be unavoidably com
pelled to go to their assistance, for should he not do so he
would run a very great risk of losing his estate ; and if
the Portuguese remained in the river of Goa with their
fleet, they forced the Hidalcao to keep there all his army ;
and in consequence of this proceeding that prince must
lose either one thing or the other, viz., Goa or the rest
of the kingdom.
Nevertheless, the captains, for all that they very well
understood in what a position all these affairs stood, never
ceased making their demands that he should go to Cochim
M6r Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos hia a Malaca assentar nella
trato. " As sette de que era Cappitam M6r Goncalo de Siqueira hiam para
trazer a Carga da especiaria.
"As tres de que era Cappitam Mor Joao Serrao mandava El Rey
descohrir a Hha de S. Louren90, e assentar com os naturaes della trato
de Gengivre no Porto Matatana.
" Successes. Manoel da Cunha perdeu-se com toda a gente junto de
Mogambique. Gongalo de Siqueira vindo para este Reino invernou em
Mogambique, e chegou no anno de doze."

198 COMMENTAEIES OF
and from that port return in such a manner that he would
be sure of achieving whatever he desired. Yet, when
Afonso Dalboquerque could not bring himself to abandon
the attempt to regain possession of Goa, he begged the
captains to wait there with him for a further space of fifteen
days ; and when these had passed, then he would do what
ever they wished. For he knew of a certainty that the
Hidakao was anxious to return to his own lands, and
indeed that he had been compelled to spend all that tirae
at Goa more by the Turks than by his own wiU. And to
see how true this statement was, they required no better
proof than the many occasions on which the Hidalcao had
sought to make peace, oSering them lands and places for
the purpose of erecting a fortress — provided only that it
were not Goa — all the time that they remained in that river
suffering so much trouble and so many hardships, as was
well known.
Notwithstanding all these arguments, and others, which
Afonso Dalboquerque laid before the captains, with the
object of persuading them to wait and see what the Hidalcao
intended to do, they maintained their own opinion, and
continued to make many demands upon him to sail away.
And thus, finding himself unable to count upon any assis
tance from the captains, and that he was compelled against
his wiU to comply with their desires, he told thera to get
all in readiness, for on the very first opportunity when the
bar should be in a fit condition, he would give them their
own way, and set sail away from Goa.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 199

CHAPTER XLIII.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sailed out of the river of Goa with
all the fleet : and how he came up en route with Diogo Mendez, on
the voyage from Portugal, and what passed between them.
It was not until the fifteenth day of the month of August,
of one thousand fifteen hundred and ten, that the bar of
Goa was in proper state for the fleet to pass over it, and
then the order was issued to the captains to weigh their
anchors and set their sails ; and because on this day, on
account of the lateness of the hour, they could not get over,
the fleet proceeded to cast anchor upon the bank of the
bar, and early in the morning of the following day they
passed over, and sailed straight away to Anjadiva. And on
that very day, at set of the sun, they caught sight of five
sailing vessels, which stood in from the sea to observe the
position of the land.
Thereupon Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched Antonio da
Costa, captain of the vessel named The Little King (Rey
pequeno) , and Duarte de Melo, of The Great King (Rey
grande), to go and speak with thera, and discover what
ships they were ; and these two ships steered ofl" in the
track of the others, in order to reconnoitre them ; but as
the night was by this tirae come, they lost sight of them ;
but on the following morning the ships came up with our
fleet. And then it turned out that it was Diogo Mendez
de Vasconcellos\ who had come from Portugal as chief
' A clerical error of both editions of the Commentaries gives this name
here as Diogo Fernandez de Vasconcellos, hut the texts, in the Very next
consecutive sentence, unconsciously correct themselves to Diogo Mendez;
and the manuscript I have quoted at p. 19G, substantiates the name of
Mendez, which 1 have consequently here substituted for the erroneous
reading. Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos finds a place in the "Linha-
gens de Portugal" by Antonio de Lima Pereira.— Brit. Mus., MS.
Lansd., 189, f. 304.

200 COMMENTAEIES OP
captain of four ships to go to Malaca, and Francisco
MarrecoSj Captain ofthe Bretam} (the Briton), one of the
vessels belonging to the fleet of the MarshaP, who had
wintered in Mo9ambique.
Directly that Afonso Dalboquerque knew that it was
Diogo Mendez, he ordered some persons to pay him a
visit, and to tell him to shape his course for Anjadiva, and
there they would have an opportunity of -seeing each other.
And on the seventeenth of the aforesaid month [of August]
everyone came to an anchor off Anjadiva; and when all
the fleet was riding at anchor, Diogo Mendez came with
all his captains to visit Afonso Dalboquerque, and brought
him news frora Portugal, and uf the fleet which had set sail
that year, carrying as chief captain Gongalo de Siqueira'.
Afonso Dalboquerque told him he was very glad at the
coming of Gongalo de Siqueira just in the very nick of time,
because he had deliberately come to the conclusion that
he should return to the siege of Goa with all the forces he
could possibly muster together, and attack the enemy, for
he had been informed that he would easily be able to efiect
this object. And then he gave him an account of all that
had taken place in Goa, and of the state in which its
fortunes now were placed. And after that they had spent
some time in conversing of these matters, Diogo Mendez
took his leave, and returned to his ship, and on the morning
of the foUowing day came to Afonso Dalboquerque unac
companied by anyone, and gave him a letter of the King
D. Manuel, wherein he sent him his best remembrances,
and commanded him to lose no time in setting Diogo
Mendez quickly on his voyage, with the best dispatch of
' Francisco Marrecos, according to one account, was captain of the
S. Francisco. See page 56, note.
' D. Fernando Coutinho.
' For the account of this expedition, see page 19G, uote.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 201
his business, for such would be most serviceable to
himself. To this Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he would
comply in every respect with the coraraands of His High
ness, and besides the fact that he would thereby be only
showing his obedience and respect to orders, yet out of
kindly feeling also to him he would be happy to do all that
lay in his power, and would give him pilots and every
thing else that was necessary. Diogo Mendez kissed the
hands of Afonso Dalboquerque in token of gratitude for
that wUlIngness shown in his kindness towards hira, and
his oQers of ready dispatch ; and he said that if he would
set him out on his voyage at once, he hoped, with the aid
of God, to arrive again at Portugal before the ships of
burden did ; and he could assure him that, being actuated
by a strong desire of reaching India at that time, and of
doing all that he could to the service of the king, he had
suflFered great hardships in his voyage, because he had
always endeavoured to carry as much sail as he could. He
also brought a letter, he said, for Timoja, from the king, in
which it was ordered that he should give him pilots for
his voyage, and he should be glad if Afonso Dalboquerque
would advise him what he ought to do in this respect.
Afonso Dalboquerque rephed that Timoja had no pUots
whom he could give him ; but nevertheless he would give
him the letter, for he was sure to be very much pleased at
the receipt of it ; and he, Diogo, might return to his ship
and make himself ready, for he had determined to saij. away
immediately in a straight course to Cananor ; and these
same instructions he sent round to aU the captains,
and that there would be a consultation when they arrived
there. On the night of that very day, which was the nineteenth
of the said month [of August] all set saU and brought up in
front of Onor. And when all had cast anchor, Afonso Dal-

202 COMMENTAEIES OP
boquerque sent a message to Timoja to come and converse
with him ; and there he found Bras Vieira, whom he had
appointed as Tanadar^ of Gintdcora, with all the officers
who had accompanied him from Goa, for he could not
return to Goa on account of the Hidalcao's army ; so he had
made his way by land to Onor. As soon as Timoja received
the message, he went at once to see Afonso Dalboquerque,
and when he arrived, Diogo Mendez embraced him, and
delivered the king's letter to him, with which he was very
much gratified, and he declared that he was the subject of
the King of Portugal, and would serve him in all things.
And to Afonso Dalboquerque Timoja related that three
days after he had passed out over the bar with his fleet,
the Hidalcao had set out to return to his kingdom ; and
on the withdrawal of the hostile forces, all the lands of
Goa and Saste, as far as Cintacora on the one side, and
as far as Condal on the other side, had revolted, and the
people had put to death all the Moorish Tanadares who had
been appointed throughout the land to superintend the
collection of the taxes.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he was much pleased
at hearing this news, and begged and entreated him that
he would maintain the natives in that hatred of the Moors
until his return, which he hoped in God would be very
soon, and that he would get ready a large quantity of sup
plies. And after spending the whole of that day in con
versing about a variety of matters, he dismissed Timoja,
and set sail with all his fleet, accompanied by Diogo
Mendez with his ships ; and on the twenty-sixth of the
said month [of August] arrived at Cananor. But because it
was late in the day when he arrived, he did not go on shore
that day, but on the morning of the foUowing day he dis
embarked, and on reaching the quay — where Rodrigo
Rabelo, the captain of the fortress, with aU his men, stood
' Sec page 125, note ; and page 126.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 203
waiting for him — they all made their way to the fortress,
except Diogo Mendez and his captains, who had not dis
embarked. And when all were seated, discussing the
present state of affairs, Rodrigo Rabelo told them he had
received credible inforraation from the Moorish merchants
of Cananor to the effect that the Rumes had set out from
Suez with an enormous fleet to reinforce Goa, and that in
addition there had arrived there a ship, which had come
from Diu, which had brought the same news.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque heard this information
he declared to Rodrigo Rabelo, a;nd to all the other captains
who were there assembled, that Diogo Mendez, while he
was at Anjadiva, had begged him to despatch him without
delay, so that he might proceed on his voyage to Malacca ;
but now they ought to tell him whether they considered it
well to allow Diogo Mendez to carry this voyage, which
he had been ordered to perform, into effect, seeing that
they were in possession of this positive news concerning the
coraing of the Ruraes, or to detain him until the coming of
Gongalo de Siqueira. And after that Rodrigo Rabelo and
all the captains had explained their own views in the mat
ter, Garcia de Sousa said that by reason of what expe
rience he had of the navigation of Malaca, — for he had
been there with Diogo Lopez de Siqueira^, — Diogo Men
dez could not possibly lose his passage until the fifteenth
day of September, but rather the weather would be better
then for the navigation, and that Diogo Mendez ought to
wait until that time, and then certain information could be
acquired whether it would be more to the service of the
king to take these ships with him to Goa, on account of
the excitement which was then arising in India at the ex
pected coming of the Rumes, or to suffer them to prosecute
their voyage. The captains, after listening to Garcia de
' For notices concerning this expedition, and its result, see pp. 31
note, 45 note, and 73,

204 COMMENTAEIES OP
Sousa, concurred in his opinion, and Afonso Dalboquerque
agreed with them.

CHAPTER XLIV.

How Afonso Dalboquerque reached Cananor, and had an audience of
the King ; and of the arrival of Duarte de Lemos and Francisco
Pantoja : and what dealings Afonso Dalboquerque had with him.
A few days after this conversation, which the great Afonso
Dalboquerque held with his captains, he sent word to the King
of Cananor that he was very desirous of an interview with
him, and that he begged him of his kindness that he would
give him permission to do so ; but whereas the king was
already determined to come and visit him he sent word to
Afonso Dalboquerque to remain w;here he was, for he would
come and visit him on the beach outside the fortress.
And when this had been thus settled, the king com
manded his men to furnish a tent on that spot, where the
interview was to take place, all carpeted inside with very
rich tapestries, and fitted with a sofa'^ covered over with
a silken cloth, and having cushions of the same make,
whereon he was to be seated. And as soon as everything
had been prepared, the king came from the city to wait there
for Afonso Dalboquerque, and brought with him Mamalle^,
and the Alguazil of Cananor, and the rulers of the land,
and many other noble Moors, and his body-guard of five
thousand Naires, all armed with swords and daggers. And
on the arrival of the king, Afonso Dalboquerque set out
from the fortress accompanied by all the captains very well
appointed, and all the rest of the armed host, and made his
way to the tent where the King of Cananor was sitting on
the sofa ; and behind the king there stood one page with
a sword of gold, and another with a scimitar of gold ; and
' Catle, for Catre, a couch or bed. « Mahomet Ali (?).

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 205
directly Afonso Dalboquerque arrived he went towards the
king with great show of courtesy to kiss his hand, and
the king, without rising from the sofa, received him with
great attention and evident delight.
When the interchange of compliments was over, Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered that the keys of the fortress should
be presented ,to the king in a washhand basin, worked
in the shape of bastions^, and he took Rodrigo Rabelo,
who was the captain of the fortress, by the hand, and
told the king to give him those keys ; and commanded
the captains, who were there present, to perform whatever the
king should order him to do, and ever to be obedient to his
orders, because that fortress, with all the garrison that were
within it, belonged to the King of Cananor by express wish
of the King D. Manuel his Lord. And for this cause, he,
Afonso, had always desired to be in his company and serve
him, and that all his affairs should always be well assisted
by him. And that he was so glad to see him, because now
he considered the alliance ratified which he had made with
the king his lord, and from that time henceforth he would
serve him with all his fleets and men which there were in
India. The king retumed him great thanks for those kind words,
and declared that he truly desired that aU Afonso Dalboquer
que had said should be so performed, because of the great
friendship which he had at heart with the King of Portugal
his brother ; and whenever it would help him in his affairs
he, for his part, would place all his estate at his service
every time it should be requested of him to do so. And as
for the keys, he said, he would take them into his hands
and deliver them to this captain of the king his brother ;
but on account of the waywardness of affairs lately he had
not done so oftener, but, nevertheless he had not ceased to be
a very good friend of the Portuguese ; and that the captain
> Bacio de agua as maos, lavrado de Basti3es.

206 COMMENTARIES OP
of the fortress, who was then present, knew very well how
his officers carried on his business, and how he always strove
to carry, out everything that was asked of him. And from
that time henceforward, he said, he would do the same with
even greater willingness, because of the great pleasure
which it gave him to see Afonso Dalboquerque, and be
cause of ¦ the great renown which he had gained at the
hands of the Moors. And as this was the first interview
which had taken place between them, many things passed
from one side to the other with great pleasure and show of
much friendship.
On the conclusion of this interview the king took leave
of Afonso Dalboquerque and went to the city, and made
a present to the captains of three pieces of velvet and ten
of camlet,^ and Afonso Dalboquerque retumed to the fortress.
And after two other days were passed, Duarte de Lemos ar
rived, who had left the position of chief captain of the coast
of Arabia, with four ships, and in his company came Fran
cisco de Pantoja, who had gone to carry supplies to the
fortress of Qocotora, as I have already related.^ And Duarte
de Lemos brought with him the ship Meri which Francisco
Pantoja had taken on his way. And when he arrived,
Afonso Dalboquerque immediately caused a visit to be made
to the ship by Antonio de Lis, who was his scrivener ; and
after two days had elapsed, Duarte de Lemos went on
shore, and Afonso Dalboquerque went with all his captains to
receive him on the beach, and they proceeded to the fortress.
After the usual preliminary courtesies had been given and
received on both sides, Duarte de Lemos told Afonso Dal
boquerque that his coming was occasioned by the great
necessity he was in from not having vessels fit for carry
ing out the duties connected with his chief captainship, and
those that he brought with him were merely kept afloat by
' Chamalote, a sort of stuff made of silk mixed with camel's hair.
' See chapter xxiv.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 207
the constant use of their pumps, and he begged him earnestly
of his goodness that he would grant him an early settlement
of his affairs, and see to the ships which he would give him
in order that they might be made ready. He related also to
him how D. Afonso de Noronha, his nephew, had set out from
Qocotora, in the course of April last in the ship Sancta
Cruz, and had taken with him Fernao Jacome, his cousin,
and Diogo Correa, and the Reverend Father, Fr. Antonio,
and many other persons ; and after their departure he had
never heard any more news of them ; and since, up to the
very present time he had never had any message from them,
he concluded that they were lost.
Afonso Dalboquerque was very much cast down at this
intelligence, for at that season — in consequence of the great
difficulty in which the affairs of India were placed — it was
a very great loss to him, and it caused him to renew the
grief he had experienced at the death of D. Antonio de
Noronha, his nephew. And after that he had recounted to
Duarte de Lemos all that had passed in the city of Goa, and
how he had quitted his position there, Afonso Dalboquerque
said to him — in the presence of Rodrigo Rabelo, captain of
the fortress, and the other captains who were there
gathered together — that he begged him of his goodness
not to put himself out about anything until the arrival of
Gongalo de Siqueira, for he had received information that
this latter was on his way from Portugal as chief captain
of a fleet,' in order that then he might come to a final deter
mination with respect to the affairs of Goa, and the pacifi
cation of the Indian Empire, which was thoroughly excited
with the news that had been spread conceming the
intended coming of the Rumes.
Duarte de Lemos replied that the chief security of India
lay in guarding the gates of the Straits of Meca, wherein
there had been as yet no introduction of Portuguese power,
1 See page 196, note.

208 COMMENTAEIES OF
although the King D. Manuel had given orders that it
should be done. And the cause of this oversight, he de
clared, was that neither the Viceroy^ nor he, Afonso Dal
boquerque, had sent him the galleys which His Highness
had, in his written instructions, commanded to be sent.
And as for his remaining where he then was until the
arrival of Goncalo de Siqueira, he would do so, he said, as
it would be to the service of the king.
At the conclusion of this interview Duarte de Lemos
begged Afonso Dalboquerque earnestly of his kindness to
pardon Fernao Perez Dandrade and Simao Dandrade, his
brother, and the o^er fidalgos, whom he had imprisoned,
and order them to be released ; and Afonso Dalboquerque,
although they well deserved punishment for the deeds
which they had done, yet out of desire to carry out the
wishes of Duarte de Lemos, commanded that all these men
should be set at liberty, and restored to them their cap
taincies, excepting only Jorge de Fogaga, for to this one,
as ringleader of the insubordination which they had evinced
towards him in the river [at Goa], he would not restore his
office. After leaving them aU in his house, Duarte de
Lemos returned to his ship, and thither Afonso Dalbo
querque ordered to be sent all that was required for his
table, and for all those who messed with him, in the same
style as he himself was served, and he always held him in
high esteem and as one exercising the authority of chief
captain of his fleet and men, with the understanding that he
would help him in the Goa business.
When Duarte de Lemos had returned to his ship, Fran
cisco Pantoja went to visit Afonso Dalboquerque, for he had
not seen him since his arrival, and recounted to him the
events of his voyage, and how he had on the way captured
the ship Meri from the King of Cambaya, and on arriving
at Qocotora, Duarte de Lemos had laid hands upon it and
' D. Francisco Dalmeida.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 209
all it contained — which was very valuable — declaring that
it belonged to hira because it had been taken within the
limits of his chief captaincy. And, he continued, although
he had addressed many remonstrances to Duarte de Lemos
with respect to this matter, to the end that he should
neither meddle with the ship nor with the cargo she carried,
because it appertained to his lordship [Afonso Dalboquer
que] who was the Captain-general of the Indies, and under
whose flag he, Francisco Pantoja, was sailing; nevertheless,
Duarte de Lemos would not be convinced by these argu
ments, but he had taken the ship away from him, and her
merchandise as well, and disposed of it all just as he
pleased. Then the Factor of Cananor, who happened to be pre
sent, said to Afonso Dalboquerque that the ship in question
and her cargo with which she was loaded belonged to the
king, and he hoped he, Afonso, would give orders for her
to be delivered over to him, in order that he might arrange
the proper distribution of it ; because the officers whom
Duarte de Lemos had placed in her would not attend to
any of his orders. Afonso Dalboquerque rephed that
Duarte de Lemos had likewise deprived him, too, of the
chief share of that ship which would have come to him by
right, but that he should hold his tongue, in order to avoid
coming to any rupture about it with him ; and since Duarte
de Lemos had already taken the best share of her, they
must get on the best way they could, for there was an end
of his interest in the matter, and he would have nothing to
do with it. And whereas Duarte de Lemos was not In a
very good humour when he arrived, because Afonso Dalbo
querque had neither sent him the ships which he had
applied for through Vasco da Silveira,^ nor gone and effected
an union with him according to the letter in which he had
sent his word that he would do so, he grew very angry at
1 See chapter xiv.

210 COMMENTAEIES OP
these words, which he was informed Afonso Dalboquerque
had said to the Factor, although he pretended not to know
anything about them.

CHAPTER XLV.

How an ambassador from the King of Cambaya arrived at Cananor to
treat for peace with the great Afonso Dalboquerque; and the
reply he received; and what passed upon this with Duarte de
Lemos.
After the great Afonso Dalboquerque had concluded the
.matters with Duarte de Lemos which I have pointed out in
the foregoing chapter, there arrived an ambassador from
the King of Cambaya, who went immediately to the for
tress, where Afonso Dalboquerque was expecting him, with
all the captains and Fidalgos, except Duarte de Lemos,
who was in his ship and remained there without coming to
land. And when the ambassador delivered his messages
to Afonso Dalboquerque from the King of Cambaya,
he gave him also a letter of credentials, and told him that
the king his lord was very desirous of having peace and
alliance with the King of Portugal ; and' that many times
already he had sent to say so ; and that now he had been
informed that his lordship, Afonso Dalboquerque, was
making himself ready to pass through the Straits of Meca,^
and if it were true, he begged him earnestly to arrange so
that in his journey he should pass by his land, and he would
come and converse with him in any of his ports that might
be selected, and there they would settle the terms of their
mutual alliances. And, he went on to declare, that the
Portuguese captains had captured one of his ships, and he
begged Afonso Dalboquerque of his kindness to order that
it should be given back to him. And the King desired to
' See vol. i, p. 58, note 1.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 211
acquaint him that he had under his protection a few Portu
guese who had been wrecked in a ship which had run
ashore on the coast in one of his ports, and he would imme
diately send them on to him.
And when he had made an end of his relation, the am
bassador put into the hands of Afonso Dalboquerque a letter
from the Christians who were there in captivity, wherein
they showed how D. Afonso, his nephew, had saUed out
from Qocotora in the ship Sancta Gruz ; and while they were
making their passage across the gulf of India they took a
very richly laden ship of Cambaya ; and after having taken
her, being as far advanced upon their course as the shallows
of Padua,^ so fierce a storm broke over them that they
scudded along under bare poles, and at length reached a
port of the Guzarates called Nabande,^ and there they ran
the ship upon sorae shallows, and it was wrecked. And, the
letter continued, when the ship had struck,^ D. Afonso and five
or six men, thinking that they could save themselves by
swimming because they were close to the shore, cast them
selves into the sea on boards, and because the storm raged
very violently, and the sea was running so boisterously,
they were overwhelmed in such wise that all of them were
drowned, while those who reraained on board the ship —
about fifty in number — waiting for the low tide, escaped
with their lives. And when they had got to land, they
were immediately taken prisoners in consequence of the
representations of twenty Moors whom they had with them,
men who had belonged to the ship which had been taken as
a prize. This ship, in which Fernao Jacome was acting as
captain, the same storm had driven to the country of the
Hidalcao, and the Moors of the land had taken her and all
' See p. 218, note. ' See vol. i, pp. 138, 139.
' E que como a nao tocdra, a misprint of the latest edition for e que como
a ndo tocdra, in which latter sense I have translated the passage; taken
as printed in the text, it has no intelligible meaning. The quarto
edition has nao.

212 COMMENTAEIES OP
the cargo she carried, putting Fernao Jacome and the
Christians who were on board to death. And the letter
went on to relate that when Gopicaiga, chief Alguazil of the
King of Cambaya, was informed that the Portuguese were
in captivity in those parts, and suffering ill-treatment at
the hands of the people of the land, he had prevaUed upon
the king to send for them, and they were now dweUing in
Champanel, and begged his lordship Afonso Dalboquerque
to devise some plan whereby he might procure their
release. And in addition to this letter from the captives, the am
bassador gave another to Afonso Dalboquerque from
Gopicaiga, the text of which is here subjoined : —
Lettee FEOM GopiCAigA, Chief Alguazil of the King of
Cambaya, to the Geeat Aponso Dalboqueeque.
True friendship, such as I have in my soul, Afonso Dal
boquerque I Chief Captain, may your good fortune ever be
greater than that of Gopicaiga, who dwells in the city of
Champanel ; many times he recommends himself to you.
After due commendations, I give you to know that one of
your ships fought with a ship from Paverlj, and took her,
and carried her away to Cochim, and while they were on
their voyage thither, a storm struck them, and your ship
reached the shore in a harbour of Guzarate, where she was
lost, and there came in her about sixty Portuguese more
or less, and twenty persons belonging to the ship of Paverij.
I was informed that the men of your ship had put to death
certain persons of the ship of Paverij, which they had taken,
and those who came with them told it to the people of the
said harbour where your ship ran ashore, for which reason
the people of the harbour desired to kill them ; but I, when
I heard this news, laid the matter before the king, and he
issued a command that they should be immediately brought

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 213
before him. Then Caixd, an alcaide of Nabande, sent
them loaded with irons to the king, and I presented them
to him, and he forthwith ordered their irons to be struck
off, and comraanded that they should be supplied with
everything that was necessary for their maintenance ; aud
your own people are writing letters to you whereby you will
know that all this really took place. And know you, also,
that in the kingdom of Guzarate a true friend of yours am
I ; and everything which shall be necessary between you
and the king in respect of alliance and friendship that will
I accomplish. It is necessary that you should send hither
one of your people, a Christian and a trustworthy man,
with an assurance that your ships shall not cruise about,
ruining our maritime traffic and robbing in the seas ; and
then we will immediately give orders that your Christians
be released, and your ships shall be able to go and to come
unharmed to and from the .ports of Cambaya, buying and
selling in them, and all the ports of Cambaya shall be at
your disposal ; and this your man you can send in a ship
to the port of Suret^, and he might bring some good thing
of service to the king, and I will present him to the king,
and I wiU befriend him, and I will conclude matters with
him in such wise that the ports of Cambaya be at your ser
vice, and you shall know that my friendship is true, and in
this manner it will be augmented.
When Duarte de Lemos was informed by Jeronymo
Teixeira and Francisco de S4 (who were the authors of all
these dissensions which had arisen between him and Afonso
Dalboquerque) that the ambassador of the King of Cambaya
had arrived, and Afonso Dalboquerque had received his em
bassy — seeing that he already could hardly put up with his
position, and by nature was of an obstinate and proud turn
of mind — he came on shore and said to Afonso Dalboquerque,
in the presence of Rodrigo Rabelo, that the boundary of his
' Surat, 21 deg. 10 min. N., 72 deg. 82 miu. E.

214 COMMENTAEIES OP
captaincy extended as far as the coast of Cambaya, and for
this reason the message from the King of Cambaya, and the
letter of his Alguazil, belonged to him, and Afonso ought
not to have received nor conversed with him without first
of all having shown this courtesy to him.
When Afonso Dalboquerque perceived the direction
which Duarte de Lemos was taking, he replied to him very
dispassionately : " Sir, let us rescue the captives who are
over there, and help me to punish thoroughly well the Moors
of Goa who have disconcerted my plans-'^, and let us for the
present leave off thinking about these governments and
commands ; and it would be much better, since I have the
power and the men of the king our lord, if you were to
favour this business, and if we were to reply to the King of
Cambaya in such terms, that we could get our Christians
out of his power ; and if you were not to be continually
fostering dissensions with me."
Duarte de Lemos told him that, although he had the men
and the power from the king, yet he himself was chief
captain of the coast of Cambaya, and to him appertained
these matters ; for this reason, therefore, he ought not to
have received the ambassador, but have remitted all the affair
to him. And so he, went on using very strong language and
words full of pride, but Afonso Dalboquerque put up with
everything, and at last repUed : " Sir Duarte de Lemos, I
well know the answer which these words of yours would
have deserved, if I had not been captain-general of the
Indies ; but since it so happens that I am in that office, I
wish I could prevaU upon you to see things as I do, and I
remember that which Tully said to Csesar, when he begged
him to pardon Marcellus, whom indeed he was unwUhng to
pardon, ' Vince te ipsum, qui ¦vincis omnia ! ' — Do thou, who
conqueredst aU things, overcome thyself also ! "
And when Afonso Dalboquerque had spoken these words,
' Que me quebrdram a cabega.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 215
he dismissed him, and Duarte de Lemos returned to his
own ship, and remained in her ever afterwards with the
title of Chief Captain, until Gongalo de Siqueira arrived ;
and thither Jeronymo Teixeira and Francisco de Sa used to
resort to set in motion their artful plans. And Afonso
Dalboquerque wished to punish them for these disturbances,
and for other matters which he had already for a long time
experienced at their hands ; but because he was desirous of
utUising their assistance in the Goa enterprise, he left them
alone unpunished until they should get to Portugal.
As soon as this difficulty had quieted down, Afonso Dal
boquerque summoned before him the ambassador of the
King of Cambaya, in order to set him on his way, and told
him to relate to his king that he was busying himself in
getting ready for a renewed attack upon Goa, and when he
had brought that enterprise to a happy termination, he in
tended to pay him a visit, and settle the terms of an
alliance, for the King of Portugal his lord would appreciate
his alliance very highly ; and whenever he might have need
of his fleet and his soldiers, he would be prepared to serve
him In all things ; and then he begged him of his kindness
to send back the captives who were there.
And having dispatched the ambassador, he treated him
with every consideration in the king's name, and gave hira
this letter for Gopicaiga, by way of reply to the one he had
received : —
Lettee peom the Geeat Aponso Dalboqueeque to the
Chief Alguazil op the King of Cambaya.
" Highly honoured and good cavaUer, chief Alguazil of the
King of Cambaya, I, Afonso Dalboquerque, captain-general
and govemor of the Indies and of the kingdom and lord
ship of Ormuz and of the kingdom and lordship of Goa, for
the King D. Manuel our lord, send you my recommendations

216 COMMENTAEIES OF
and my friendship. Tour messenger reached me, and was
weU received and honoured ; and he gave me your letters,
whereby I was much pleased to know that the King of
Cambaya, your lord, desires to have peace with the king
our lord ; and I saw as well in your letters that these men
of the king our lord, and of this ship which was lost there,
had been well received by the king, and succoured and weU
treated, and in like manner as this it is to be hoped that
kings, who are such great lords and who possess such great
authority and so much land and so many people as the
King of Cambaya does, will do honour to the people of Por
tugal and of the king our lord. As soon as I received this
news, which you wrote to me, I immediately commanded
that due respect should be paid to the people who were
taken in the ship Meri, which had been taken by one of my
ships which I sent to (^ocotora ; and the chief captain and
govemor of those parts, who is now here with me, brought
her with hira. Now let the king consider what he will
command to be done to the ship and to the Moors, for I
shall be pleased to serve him in everything ; and so also
will the chief captain of those parts do, who is here toge
ther with me. Your reply will find me along the coast as
far as Goa, and I shall receive it from you as from one who
is my friend. I should be very happy if the King of Cam
baya would send me these Christians, for in all other matters
I shall be happy to please him, and all shall be done accord
ing to his desire. Yea, would to God that an aUiance were
made between him and the king my lord, wherewith your
king ought to be very greatly pleased, because he would
have his harbours safe, and his ships and people could
navigate the sea. And I trust that I shaU arrive close to
his territory, and I should be glad to receive a message
from him to know with how good a wiU I forward his busi
ness, aud how pleased I am to serve him in that which
lios within my power. And should he make peace and

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 217
alliance with the king ray lord, I will assist hira with all the
king's power and people that I have in India.., Look you
well to your reply ; and if you command anything of me,
write to me about It. I shall be glad to have you for a
friend. . Written in Cananor, the sixteenth of Septeraber."

CHAPTER XLVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent Simao Martinz, and Garcia
de Sousa, to watch for the ships which sailed from M6ca, that they
might obtain certain intelligence of the coming of the Rumes ; and
of the request made to him by Diogo Mendez that he might be
allowed to prosecute his voyage to Malaca.
After that the great Afonso Dalboquerque had set the
ambassador of the King of Cambaya on his way, out of a
desire to obtain exact information of the coming of the
Rumes, and in order to make up his mind what line of action
to undertake, and also in order that during these days
which he had to occupy in getting his fleet ready to return
against Goa, there should not pass any ships laden with
pepper for the Straits, for it was now the sixteenth day of
the month of September, which is the time in which the
shlp« that set out from the Straits arrive off the coast of
India — he made up his mind to send certain ships to cruise
about in different parts, in order thereby to become more
certainly informed of the coming of the enemy. And for
this purpose he lost no time in forwarding Simao Martinz,
in the position of chief captain of three vessels, and with him
Francisco Marrecos, and Antonio de Mates, with orders to
proceed' to the Monte de DeW, and cruise about in that lati
tude until the close of the month of September ; and if any
' This is the Montedelli of Fernao Vaz, 1546 ; apparently on the coast
of India between Mangalor and Cananor. See page 169, note ; also
Lord Stanley's Correa, p. 145.

218 COMMENTAEIES OP
of them were to capture any ship from the Straits, he was
to make his way at once with his prize to Cananor.
As soon as Simao Martinz had set forth with these vessels
in his company, Afonso Dalboquerque sent for Garcia de
Sousa, and told hira that he had correct news of the depar
ture of some ships from Meca, bound for Calicut, and that
he was to get himself ready with three vessels, which would
be put under his command, to cruise about from the shal
lows of Padua^ to the Isles^ of Panane ; for in this crossing
and latitude the navigation of the ships bound from the
straits to Calicut was most likely to occur.
Thereupon Garcia de Sousa told him, that he was much
astonished at his Lordship sending him on that undertaking,
as he had already appointed Simao Martinz to be chief cap
tain of three vessels which were to cruise in the same lati
tude, and that he would not go there, nor undertake such
an enterprise as that one was, unless it was arranged that
Siraao Martinz should be placed under his orders and sail
under his captaincy. But because this behaviour did not
arise naturally from Garcia de Sousa, who was a very good
man and a very brave cavalier, one who had served the King
very well in all the undertakings in which he had beeu
engaged, Afonso Dalboquerque replied that he begged him
of his goodness to do this service for the King's sake and
not to take any heed about rivalries, for Simao Martinz
would cruise about in one place and he in another; and to
be on his guard against the interested counsel of busy bodies
(for he was a man who could revolutionise India) ; and to
bear in mind how bad he had always thought the under
hand tales which Joao da Nova and the others who were of
his party fostered between himself (Afonso Dalboquerque)
» The Padua Bank, or Muuyal Par, Laocadive Islands, off the Indian
Coast. 18 deg. N., 72 deg. 20 miu. E.
* Ilheo. This word appears to signify a small uninhabited island,
whereas ilha is au island in a more geueral sense, like the l^atin insula.

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 219
and the Viceroy, and not to desire now to forfeit the honours
he had already gained. And as Garcia de Sousa was desirous
of serving the King, he performed all that Afonso Dalbo
querque desired of him, and set sail with instructions how
he was to act, wherein he was earnestly enjoined to cruise
about and keep a sharp look-out, for information had reached
him that in company with these ships of Calicut some of the
Rumes also were coming.
Three or four days after Garcia de Sousa and Simao Mar
tinz had departed on their voyages, Diogo Mendez came to
land with his captains, and proceeded to the fortress where
Afonso Dalboquerque was, and reminded him that he had
promised, while at Anjadiva, to dispatch him, and give him
pilots, and everything else that was necessary for him to
make his journey to Malaca, as soon as they arrived at
Cananor ; and as there was now an opportunity, he begged
him of his goodness to dispatch him, and give him per
mission to sail away. Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that
after his arrival here he had been constantly occupied, not
only with the King of Cananor, but also in dispatching
certain captains whom he had sent to guard that coast ; and
on this account he had not had any time for communing
with the captains : but now he would order them to be sum
moned to meet, and he would discuss with them this busi
ness of his, and would send him a reply in accordance with
their opinions.
Diogo Mendez then said that matters which had been
arranged by the King our lord ought not to be made to
depend upon the opinions of auy other persons, but all that
remained to do was to comply with the commands of his
Highness and his covenants and instructions ; for, in so
doing much was involved : and he desired of him, on the
part of the King, to permit him to prosecute his voyage m
accordance with the orders under which he had come out
from Portugal. For, he said, in the covenant which the

220 COMMENTAEIES OP
King had made with him and the merchants, he had been
all along exempted from the jurisdiction of Afonso Dalbo
querque, as could be seen by an inspection of the papers
which he there and then laid before him.
Afonso Dalboquerque replied, that he had no necessity
to examine the papers, for the King would not exempt hira,
Diogo Mendez, from his own governor, if there should be
any need in Indian affairs (as there was sure to be), and it
was this very point that he desired to discuss with the cap
tains. And when Diogo Mendez perceived that Afonso
Dalboquerque was determined not to give him any answer
until he had first of all communed with the captains, he no
longer cared to insist upon being dispatched away, and re
turned to his ship.

CHAPTER XLVIL

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque deliberated with the captains,
whether he should permit Diogo Mendez to go to Malaca or not ;
and what conclusions were arrived at, and what happened in regard
to Diogo Mendez.
At the close of the interview which the great Afonso
Dalboquerque held with Diogo Mendez, he gave an account
to the captains (in the presence of Rodrigo Rabelo, captain
of the fortress of Cananor) of all that had passed be
tween himself and Diogo Mendez up to that tirae. And
when they had discussed first one thing and then another,
they agreed that in consideration of the events which had
taken place with Diogo Lopez de Siqueira at Malaca, — who
carried with him five ships and four hundred men, — and of
the smaU strength of the fleet and men and other necessary
things which Diogo Mendez brought with the intention of
taking In hand so extensive an undertaking as that was
which was contemplated, and also iu consideration of the

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 221
news of the coming of the Rumes, and that it was known
for certain that there had set out from Suez fifty sail and
ten thousand men, — In consideration, I say, of all these in
convenient events, they decided that Diogo Mendez ought
not to go to Malaca, but that he ought to wait until the
month of April, for by that time the affairs of India would
have been reduced to their settled state.
And when this had been thus arranged, Afonso Dalbo
querque ordered that Diogo Mendez and his captains should
be called, and he told them that he had recounted the matter
to Rodrigo Rabelo, captain of the fortress, and the rest of
the captains, and all considered that It was very important
for the service of the King that ho should not be permitted
to go, as well on account of the certain inforraation respect
ing the coming of the Rumes, as also because the affairs of
Malaca were so badly circumstanced that it required more
force than that which he, Diogo Mendez, had brought from
Portugal to pacify that country. For, he said, Diogo Lopez
de Siqueira had returned from that region with his plans
disconcerted^ and sixty of his men killed or taken captives,
and he himself had run great risk of losing all his fleet, if it
had not been that he was advised in time of the treachery
which had been arranged against him : and since the affairs
of Malaca were in the state which he knew them to be, it was
necessary that he should go to their assistance with sufficient
forces, and undertake their settlement in such a manner that
the powers there would be imraediately compelled to make
terms with him : and this it was, he declared, which would
be raore serviceable to the King than the mere loading of
his ships well or badly. And, he continued, this reason
alone was enough to make him think it unadvisable to carry
out this journey at this time; not to mention another reason,
of much greater weight, which was, the present state of In
dian affairs, and the confirmed report of the coraing of the
> Com a cabega quebrada; lit., with his head broken.

222 COMMENTAEIES OP
Rumes, and Goa risen up in successful rebellion, and the
Kings of Cambaya and of Calicut, and the Rumes, all
united in one body with that city against us, with many
ships built all along the coast as far as Diu to co-operate
with them against us. And therefore he would beg Diogo
Mendez earnestly of his goodness to enter more heartily
into this business at present in hand [the taking of Goa]
than he had hitherto done, for thereby he would be really
performing good service to the King our Lord, seeing that
with India lost it would not be much use for the King to
hold Malaca.
Diogo Mendez replied, that he was so desirous of per
forming the service of the King, that he would yield to no
one in this respect ; and, therefore, truly it appeared to
hira that nothing would so much conduce to this service as
that he should be quickly dispatched to prosecute his voyage,
in accordance with instructions which he had brought from
Portugal. For, if he could not load his ships in Malaca,
he could do so in Samatra or in Pegii, and therefore he
would beg him of his kindness not to interpose difficulties
in the way of his dispatch ; because, although the affairs of
Diogo Lopez had turned out as had been alleged, yet he
hoped, with God's aid, that on arriving at Malaca he would
be able to dispose his forces in such a manner that not only
would he be able to get his ships laden, but he expected to
rescue the Portuguese who were now in captivity there.
And, he continued, seeing that the King in the letter
which he had written to hira, had especiaUy dwelt upon the
rapidity of his dispatch, Afonso Dalboquerque ought not to
be so firraly set upon detaining him, because in India there
were many ships and men, and the fleet of Gongalo de
Siqueira which was on the point of arriving, so that these
ships of his might well be dispensed with.
The reply of Diogo Mendez somewhat exasperated Afonso
Dalboquerque, and he said he knew very well the necessities

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 223
that India Was labouring under, and in respect of them he
would undertake to give an account to the King his Lord,
and therefore Diogo Mendez should not set his mind upon
going to Malaca, — for it was now thus settled ; but he
would send him thither in April, and send in company with
him four additional ships well supplied with arms and vic
tuals, for in this wise he could go safely ; whereas it was
unsafe to attempt the voyage in four ships not much better
than sides of bark, as his were, badly munitioned with
everything that was necessary for the success of an under
taking like this. And this he said he would undertake to
do for him, if the affairs of Malaca at that season were to
improve their aspect.
Diogo Mendez answered that, as Afonso Dalboquerque
had made up his mind not to suffer him to go to Malaca,
he could certainly, in his capacity as Captain-General of the
King of Portugal in the parts of India, exercise this power,
but it would be against his will and that of his captains, for
his only object in coming was for the service of the King ;
and, therefore. If Afonso Dalboquerque considered that by
his remaining in India he would be doing better service,
he would do so willingly. And so much cavilling about
this could have been dispensed with ; for he well knew that
he would gain more by remaining where he was than by
going to Malaca. And, on the conclusion of these debates,
from that day forward, Diogo Mendez did not care to talk
any more to Afonso Dalboquerque about his dispatch.

224 COMMENTAEIES OP

CHAPTER XLVIII.
How Lourenco Moreno, with two other vessels of the company of Gon
calo de Siqueira, reached Cananor : and how the great Afonso Dal
boquerque ordered him to conclude peace with the Rulers of Batical4 ;
and of the letter which Afonso Dalboquerque wrote to Timoja
through him.
WhUe the great Afonso Dalboquerque was expecting
every day the arrival of Gongalo de Siqueira, with the in
tention of taking advantage of his coming to determine
finally as to his return against Goa, — when it was now the
eighth day of the month of September, — Lourengo Moreno,
captain of the ship Botafogo,^ arrived: he had come to be the
factor of Cochim, and in company with him came Joao de
Aveiro in the Bastiaina,^- and Lourenco Lopez, nephew of
Thom^ Lopez, in another ship ; and upon the same day
that they arrived, Lourengo Moreno went immediately to
land to see Afonso Dalboquerque, and after delivering to
hira a packet of letters which he carried from the King D.
Manuel for him, he informed him that Gongalo de Siqueira
had set out from Portugal with seven ships, having very
good soldiers on board ; and as they were all sailing along in
company at the Gabo dos Gorrentes,^ so fierce a storm came
upon them that it had scattered all the ships, and he himself
indeed, with the two ships mentioned above, had run before
the storm and reached Mozambique, and remained there for
several days ; but when they saw that Gongalo' de Siqueira
' Botafogo; a long stick with a match-rope fixed at the end to fire off
cannon, — Vieyra. Perhaps here the best English equivalent is Spit-fire,
from Botar fogo, rather than Linstock, which would be the more literal
translation. 2 Bastiaina ; probably a feminine appellation signifying a woman of
Bastia, the capital city of Corsica.
' Cape Corrientes, on the coast of Mozambique, 24 deg. 10 min. S.,
35 deg. 12 min. E.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 225
was still behind, and that the season was growing late, they
had crossed over to India, but in consideration of the lati
tude wherein he had parted company with the others, and
because the weather which had brought him to Mogambique
was also favourable for their voyage, he was of opinion that
it would not be long before they also arrived.
This news which Lourengo Moreno brought conceming
the fleet which Diogo Lopez was conducting greatly pleased
Afonso Dalboquerque, for he trusted to avail himself of its
help in the Goa business. And after conversing respecting
many occurrences in Portugal, Afonso Dalboquerqiie re
counted to Lourengo Moreno the troubles which had hap
pened at Goa ; and how he was making himself ready to
return against that city again. And when these conversa
tions were over, he dismissed Lourengo Moreno to go and
rest himself after the fatigues of the voyage ; and with the
object of not losing time in respect of what he had deter
mined to do, he summoned Duarte de Lemos and all the
rest of the captains, and informed them that when he was
in Goa, Condanechatim' and Naodaquigar^, the rulers of
Baticald, had sent a messenger to him, saying that they
desired to make peace with him, and to be in obedience to
the King of Portugal, but up to that time he had sent no
reply to them, because he had no ships which he could send
to that place ; yet now that Lourengo Moreno had arrived
with two very large ships in his company, he could now go
and settle this matter, and on the way take the ships laden
with suppUes for that fleet, which he was preparing for the
renewal ofthe attack upon Goa ; and therefore he would have
them declare what they considered he ought to do.
Thereupon Duarte de Lemos, who was opposed to the
policy of Afonso Dalboquerque, and other captains who were
¦ Condane chatim—i.e., Condane, the Merchant. See page 130, note 3.
2 Naoda quigar—i.e., Nakhoda Quigar ; Quifar, the Captam. See
vol. i, page 227, note 2.

226 COMMENTAEIES OF
also on this man's side, declared to him that with these
ships of burthen he ought not to desire to do anything,
except to send them on to Cochim to load, and depute
Lourengo Moreno to superintend their loading, for he it was
who was to be the Factor ; and by no means to appoint him
to the performance of so doubtful an enterprise as this was,
for it might so fall out that the ships would not retum in
time to take in their cargoes. The other captains, however,
said that since the ships would have to wait for Gongalo de
Siqueira, the lord governor could well send Lourengo Moreno
to Baticald to conclude the business, for there would be no
time lost in so doing, and it would be very advantageous to
have a treaty of peace with Baticala, in order to be able to
obtain from that place any supplies which might be required
during the retaking of Goa.
In this latter opinion Afonso Dalboquerque coincided, so
he sent for Lourengo Moreno, and sent him forth immediately
to go and conclude this affair, and with him he sent also the
two ships which had accompanied him from Portugal, and a
Moor of Cananor, naraed Porcassem^, as interpreter, to go
on shore and negotiate the matter ; and he gave to Lourengo
Moreno written instructions of what he was to do, and cer
tain memoranda of the conditions on which he was to con
clude peace. Of these the principal articles were, that the
rulers were to give him a house, built at their own expense,
of stone and mortar, wherein the Factor of the King of
Portugal could keep his merchandise secure; and they
were also to pay in every year, by way of tribute, two
thousand bags^ of rice. And he ordered him that, having
completed this business with the utmost alacrity, he was
to proceed direct to Onor, and put himself in com
munication with Tiraoja, and deliver over to him Lou
rengo da Silva, and Fernao Vaz, whom he sent to that
' Porcassem, iov Abu'l-Casitn, softened into Bui- Kasim ; called Poca-
racem in chapter li. » Fardos, each weighing forty-two pounds.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 227
prince to occupy the position of captains of the Hindoos
who were to wage war with those of Goa : and to these
two captains he ordered that certain Portuguese should
be dehvered, to be carried with them, and saddles,
bridles, and all other sorts of horse furniture, and he gave
Lourengo Moreno this letter, which is given here below, to
deliver to Timoja.
Lettee of the Geeat Afonso Dalboqueeque to Timoja.
"Honoured Timoja, chief alguazil and captain of the
people of Goa, and lord of the lands of Cintacora, for the
king our lord, I, Afonso Dalboquerque, captain-general and
governor of the Indies, and of Persia, and of the kingdom
and lordship of Ormuz, and of the kingdom and lordship of
Goa, for the king our lord, send you my salutations. You
know well my determination, which is to besiege Goa with
your advice and help, and I trust in Our Lord that we shall
quickly gain possession of that place. I should be glad if
you would show favour towards this people who are engaged
in war against those of Goa, and permit them to enjoy and
consume the revenues of the land. To you I send Louren90
da Silva and Fernao Vaz, who are good cavaliers and cap
tains, to command these people who are engaged in war :
do you send them at once to the spot where the people are,
and grant them some number whereof they may be cap
tains, for they are good cavaliers ; and I trust that they will
perform their duty weU. I shall soon be with you. I
should be much pleased if you would send me, by one of your
fustas, news of the way in which the land is going on, and
what sort of army there is in Goa, and with what sort of
soldiers you are able to help me. And as for those supplies
which I desired you to get in readiness for me, do you order
them to be dehvered over to Lourengo Moreno, that he may
bring them to me, for I am in need of them. Kiss for me

.228 COMMENTARIES OP
the hands of the King of Garcopa, and tell him that I beg
he will assist me with all his power, for I trust very quickly
that we shall cast out the Moors from the land, and that I
will help him with my person, my horses, arms, and people
to gain much land from thera, and I will make him a greater
lord than all the others who are round about him ; therefore
I beg him of his goodness to favour this people who fight
for us, and to have no fear of the Moors, for he shall soon
see. the Hidakao destroyed, and all his estate ruined."
As soon as Lourengo Moreno had got his ships in
readiness, he took leave of Afonso Dalboquerque, and
proceeded to embark, and shaped his course straight for
Baticald.

CHAPTER XLIX.

How Simao Martinz captured a ship which came from jMeca, richly
laden, and brought her to Cananor ; and of the news which two
Jews, who were taken in her, related to the great Afonso Dalbo
querque.
Five days after the departure of Lourengo Moreno for
BaticalS., Simao Martinz arrived, whom Afonso Dalboquerque
had sent to reconnoitre the ships which were coming out of
the Straits (as I have already related), and with him he
brought a ship which he had captured in the latitude of
Monte de Deli,^ bound from Mdca to Calicut, laden with
much merchandise. And, among other captives who were
taken in her, there were two Castilian Jews, who declared
for certain news that the Rumes were not able to set out
that year, because the Grand Sultan had been engaged in
serious dissensions with the governors of Damascus and
Alepo, and there was no time for him to make ready.
Afonso Dalboquerque inquired of them whether many
' See page 217, note.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 229
ships had sailed from the Straits for- India, and they in
formed him that they knew nothing of any other ships than
that one of theirs, and one other which was coming on
behind, much more richly laden ; for they had come by
land to embark at the Island of Qiaquem^, and there they
had spoken with a Christian who was named Fernao Goraez,^
and with a Moor who was in his company, — and Fernao
Gomez had declared to them that his other companion was
dead ; and from that point he and the Moor set out on the
road to Cairo ; but after the lapse of a few days these re
turned again to Quaquem; and because they could not
agree respecting the road which they were to take, Fernao
Gomez had separated himself from the Moor, and made his
way to Juda,^ and the Moor had tumed into the interior
parts of Quaquem, and thenceforth nothing more was known
of them.
Then Afonso Dalboquerque asked them what news they
had of the Presto Joao,* and of his country. The Jews re
plied that they knew nothing more of him than that each
year there went a caravan from ^uaquem, very near to the
Red Sea, and it raade its way to Mount Sinay, and thence
straight to Jerusalera : and in company with this caravan
there always went a captain with cavalry soldiers in his
guard, on account of the Arabs ;^ and because the country
is desert, and there are no means of obtaining supplies of
food by the way, the members of the caravan took many
camels loaded with victuals ; and that into the Island of
^uaquem they imported many spices from India, and there
' Cuaquem, see Suaque, and the Costa de suaque, on the African side of
the Mar roxo, in Berthelot's chart, vol. i, p. 80. It is now Suakin, in
Lower Nubia, 19 deg. 6 min. N., 37 deg. 23 min. E.
' For the incidents relating to this journey of Fernao Gomez, see Vol.
1, chapter liv. ' Judd. See vol. i, p. 234.
' Prester John, a favourite myth of Oriental voyagers and travellers
from the days of Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville.
' Por amor dos alarves.

230 COMMENTARIES OP
they embarked in shallops^ (which are a kind of barques
(barcos), like caravelas, which ply in the Straits), and were
carried to Cogaer^ — a port of the Red Sea— and from this
port took them by land to Cana,^ which is on the banks of
the river Nile, about three days' journey from Cogaer, and
there they took passage in barges (barcas), and in a few
days' time reached Cairo.
And these two Jews turned Christians : to the one of
them was given the name of Francisco Dalboquerque, and
to the other Alexandre Dataide. And Afonso Dalboquerque,
as long as he lived, employed them as interpreters, espe
cially Alexandre Dataide, because he knew many languages,
and had a great aptitude for business. And after the death
of Afonso Dalboquerque, they went to Portugal, in the time
of the King D. Manuel, and from that country returned to
India, and from India they proceeded to Cairo, where they
again became Jews.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had been informed of
the other ship which was coraing from M^ca in company
with this one, he ordered Simao Martinz to return again
immediately, and cruise about in that latitude where he had
fallen upon the ship which he had captured ; and he ordered
also Rodrigo Rabelo, captain of Cananor, to embark without
loss of time in the ship which had been taken from the
Rumes, and proceed to the sea-coast of the Monte de Deli,
to look out for that ship, aud in his company he sent
Francisco Serrao and Alvaro Paganha, in the two caravelas,
and Afonso Pessoa in the fusta; and he commanded
Rodrigo Rabelo that in case he should come up with Garcia
' Oeluas ; cf . Jelua, vol. i, p. 226, note.
2 Cogaer; Coser, on the African side of the Red Sea, between tera do
egito, and aguada do dezafio, in the chart of Fernao Vaz ; now Kosseir,
Kossayr, or Cosire, in Philoteras, Egypt, 26 deg. 5 min. N., 24 deg. 16
miu. E.
' Cand, now Keneh, or Geneh, the ancient Cxnopplis, 26 deg. 11 min.
N., 32 deg. 45 min. E. ; nearly opposite Dendera or Tentyris.

afonso DALBOQUEEQUE. 231
de Sousa and Simao Martinz, who were cruising about
there, aU three should take good counsel of what they ought
to do, in order to get possession of this ship. And Rodrigo
Rabelo set out, and seven or eight days afterwards he and
Garcia de Sousa and Simao Martinz returned, and told
Afonso Dalboquerque that along the whole of that coast
there was no news of any ship which was coming from
Mdca, except only that one which Simao Martinz had
already captured.
On the arrival of these captains at Cananor, because
several days had elapsed, during which Diogo Mendez had
not come to shore, Lourengo de Paiva recommended Afonso
Dalboquerque to look well to the actions of Diogo Mendez,
for Jeronymo Teixeira had told him that the captain was
getting himself ready and had determined to make his way
to Malaca. And Afonso Dalboquerque, who thought this
was a true tale, immediately went that very night to the
quay with the fidalgos and cavaliers who were with him, and
ordered Rodrigo Rabelo to get into a boat manned with
soldiers, and Pero Dalpoem, Ouvidor of India, in another,
and to board the ship of Diogo Mendez, and summon him,
on the part of Afonso Dalboquerque, and bring all his
captains, masters, and pilots under arrest.
When Diogo Mendez reached the fortress, Afonso Dalbo
querque said that he was very much surprised at his wishing
to go away to Malaca with his ships and men, without per
mission, seeing that it had been decided in a council that the
king's service required that he should remain in India, and
not go to that port. Diogo Mendez replied that he had never
imagined such a thing, but, on the contrary, he had told his
captains and merchants who composed the expedition that
he had to put himself at the obedience of Afonso Dalbo
querque, and do all that should be required of him ; and
that he, Afonso, ought not to believe that a man in such
a position as he was would attempt to do anything which

2.32 COMMENTARIES OP
would render it necessary to sumra on him in such a manner ;
and since he did not.care to grant him permission to pro
secute his voyage, he had better send and take possession
of the fleet, and give an account of it to the king our lord ;
and that for the future he would be there under his orders,
ready to do whatever was required of him. And at the
end of all these arguraents Afonso Dalboquerque required
of him an oath of fealty, and commanded the Ouvidor to de
mand the same of the other captains in his company, that
under the severest penalty they were not to depart from
him without his permission ; and every one promised, ex
cept Pero Coresma, who declared that Diogo Mendez was
his chief captain, and he would not take an oath of fealty
to anyone else but to him.
Therefore Afonso Dalboquerque ordered Pero Coresma to be
imprisoned inr the castle, and there he remained under arrest
until the following day, when some of the captains begged
his liberation, and Afonso Dalboquerque gave orders for his
release and the taking of his oath of fealty like the others.
And he ordered Pero Dalpoem to notify to the pilots and
masters that under penalty of death and confiscation of their
property, they should not stir from their quarters without
his express orders. And when an official stateraent of all
this affair had beeii drawn up, they returned to their ships.
And after the lapse of two or three days, Afonso Dalbo
querque discovered that this which had been reported to
him was untrue, and that Jeronymo Teixeira had concocted
it because Diogo Mendez had fallen into disagreement with
him. So when he knew this, he sent for Diogo Mendez,
and earnestly begged his pardon for that which he had done
to him, and declared that the fault really lay in his not
informing him of the quarrelling of Jeronymo Teixeira ;
and he would promise him that when the Goa business was
completed, he would set him out rightly on his voyage,
and give him pilots and everything that he required for his

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 233
passage. Yet with all these compliments, Afonso Dalbo
querque did not cancel the oath of fealty which Diogo
Mendez had taken, nor the penalty which had been imposed
upon the pilots and masters.

CHAPTER L.
How Gon9alo de Sequeira reached Cananor ; of the council held by the
great Afonso Dalboquerque with the captains, respecting the return
to Goa ; and of the news he had concerning the death of the King
of Cochim, and what he did thereupon.
When all these affairs which I have related had passed
away, there arrived Goncalo de Sequeira at Cananor, on
the sixteenth day of the month of September, of the year
'ten : — he had set out from the kingdom of* Portugal for
India as chief captain of seven ships — and at his arrival,
Afonso Dalboquerque was greatly pleased, and returned
many thanks to Our Lord, because at the very juncture
when he had determined to make another attack upon Goa,
no less than fourteen ships had arrived in India, wherein
were about one thousand five hundred Portuguese, with
whom he could undertake anything, however great it might
be. And of these fourteen ships the chief captains were
Gongalo de Sequeira, Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos (as has
already been related), and Joao Serrao, with three vessels
which the King D. Manuel sent to examine and sound the
entrance into the Straits of the Red Sea.
The same day that Gongalo de Sequeira arrived he went
at once to land to converse with Afonso Dalboquerque, who
came down with all his captains and fidalgos, who were there,
to meet him on the quay, and escorted him to the fortress.
And after everyone had talked about the news from Portu
gal, G ongalo de Sequeira gave to Afouso Dalboquerque the
letters which he brought from the King D. Manuel for him.

234 COMMENTAEIES OP
and one as well forDuarte.de Lemos, which was immediately
forwarded to him at the ship wherein he was; in which
letter the King desired him to deliver over to Afonso Dal
boquerque all his fleet and men, and to return to Portugal,
and Afonso Dalboquerque, to give him a passage home in
a ship for himself and his belongings.
At the receipt of this letter, Duarte de Lemos became
more reasonably minded, and all his expectations were dis
pelled which Jeronymo Teixeira and Francisco de Sa had
aroused in him, that he was to remain forsooth, after having
fulfilled his term of duty, as Governor of, India, seeing that
he had succeeded to the chief captainship of the coast of
Arabia upon the death of Jorge Daguiar his uncle, who
would have became Governor of India if he had lived : but
this was not so, for, as to the succession to the Govemment
of India, D. Afonso de Noronha had the reversion of it, if
he lived. After the day in which Gongalo de Sequeira
arrived had passed, whereas Afonso Dalboquerque thought
of nothing else but the return to the attack of Goa, and
was desirous of arriving at a conclusion of the business be
fore any more time should be spent, on the foUowing day
he desired Gongalo de Sequeira, Duarte de Leraos, and
Diogo Mendez, and the rest of the captains who were there
to meet ; and when all were assembled he related to them
everything that had taken place in Goa, and in the river
during the tirae that he was there ; and how, after he had
sailed out of the river and arrived at Onor, Tiraoja had in-
forraed him that the Hidakao had immediately departed
with all his army, because all the lords of the kingdom of
Decan had risen up in rebellion against him ; and in conse
quence of the war in which the Hidakao was engaged with
these lords, he was prevented from coming to the assistance
of Goa, and thus by this conjunction of events he, Afonso,
could take It and make himself lord of it; therefore he
begged that, as the Goa business was in this state, they
would advise him what he should do.

APONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 235
Then the captains held their council concerning these
propositions which Afonso Dalboquerque presented, and
there were numerous discussions and many differences of
opinion ; for Gongalo de Sequeira and Duarte de Lemos,
and the captains who were about to retum to Portugal, de
clared that it was more to the service of the King of Portu
gal that he should go and arrange the terms of peace with
the King of Cambaya, — who was very desirous of it, and
begged it with great show of reason, — than to return 'to
Goa ; that this enterprise was a very hazardous affair and
one of great peril, and would result in no profit for the King
of Portugal. But they gave these opinions in favour of
avoiding the affair, because they were more anxious to load
their ships and return to Portugal than to gain experience
in their own persons of the hardships which their comrades
had already undergone in the river of Goa.
Diogo Mendez and his captains, with all the fidalgos, and
the rest of the Indian mUitary staff, however, were of opinion
that they should fall upon Goa again, because the Hidakao
was so far off that he could not relieve the place with suffi
cient rapidity ; and even if he were to come, it would only
be by the time our people had put an end to the affair; and
if the matter did not succeed, as all hoped to God that it
would, there would yet be time enough for them to proceed
to Cambaya to interview the King and arrange terms of
peace with him.
After it had been decided, by a majority of votes, that a
renewed attack upon Goa should be made, Afonso Dalbo
querque said to Duarte de Lemos and to Gongalo de
Sequeira that he begged them of their goodness to be
pleased to go with him on his side in that enterprise, be
cause, since Goa could not be relieved by the Hidakao on
account of the war in which he was engaged, very little
time would be required by them for the re-capture, and
thereby they would lose no opportunity for making their

236 COMMENTAEIES OP
voyages. But they excused themselves, and gave their
reasons, why they could not be with him in that business.
But I well believe that when they saw the city was taken,
they would have given much to have been found taking a part
in the business, that they should not have returned to Portugal
with such a bad name. Afonso Dalboquerque was not very
well pleased with them; nevertheless, he commanded that his
fleet should be made ready and everything which was re-
(fuired, with the intention of taking In hand the performance
of this affair with the people whora he had now under his
command, and to leave the rest to God, to direct as should
be best for his own service.
And whUe Afonso Dalboquerque was occupied in this
hasty way, there arrived a Gatur^ from Cochim with a letter
from the King for him, wherein it was related that the
King, the uncle of the present one, was dead, and that
certain Moors, his eneraies, and others, who styled them
selves friends, had risen up in rebellion against him, and
had gone over to one of his cousins, who desired to become
king, all in consequence of the advice given by the King of
Calicut, to put him in possession of the land ; therefore he
begged hira of his goodness, if his affairs did not occupy him
very much, that he would pay him a visit, because he had
no one with whom he could take counsel, nor frora whom
he could derive assistance except him ; because his cousin,
who desired to become king, was at Vaipim, and all the lords
who had come to see him had told him to go and put him
self into his uncle's grave, and if he did not care to do so,
his cousin would have to kill him ; and the most powerful
opponent he had was the King of Calicut; yet, with all these
oppressions, he would never separate himself from the ser
vice of the King of Portugal, for he would always act In
accordance with the policy of his uncle with regard to the
' See page 55, note 1.

AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 237
troubles which the Portuguese experienced in India since it
was discovered.
Afonso Dalboquerque related the contents of this letter
to the captains, and all were of opinion that he ought
to go and see to this matter without the least delay, be
fore the King of Calicut took any more steps in it. There
fore, Afonso Dalboquerque determined to set out imme
diately, and commanded Gongalo de Sequeira, with the ships
of his own company, and the captains who had remained
out of the fleet of the Marshal, to make themselves ready
in order to set saU the next day in the morning with him to
Cochim, and when there he would dispatch them to Portu
gal. And, forgetting the dissensions which he had with
Duarte de Lemos, he left him in Cananor to act in his name
with all the power and authority of Governor which belonged
to himself in person.

CHAPTER LI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set out for Cochim, and arranged
the differences between the King and his cousin : and what passed
with the captains while stationed at Cochim.
On the foUowing day, which was the twenty-second day
ofthe month of September, In the evening, the great Afonso
Dalboquerque set out for Cochim, and took with him Gon-
9alo de Sequeira with all his ships, and those which remained
of the Marshal's fleet to take in their lading and to set forth
for Portugal, and the two galleys, and the ship lately taken
from the Rumes, and disposed all the other fleet in a line
along-tte coast to prevent any ship from entering into Goa,
whether it should come from the Straits or from any other
part, with supplies.
And he reached Cochim on the twenty-sixth of the said
month, and immediately went on shore to visit the King,

288 COMMENTAEIES OP
who was already in expectation of his arrival, with all the
Gaimais^ of his court, and with many other persons, and so
they all went to the fortress, and there the captain had pre
pared for him a house well furnished, where they sat down.
And after the King had given him great thanks for that kind
ness and honour which he had shown him in coming at his
request, he proceeded to relate all his troubles, and that the
Brahmans told him, now that his uncle was dead, he would
be obliged to place himself in the grave, for this was their
ancient custom.
Afonso Dalboquerque then said to him, that as the King
D. Manuel, his Lord, had caused him to be received as King
upon oath of fealty during the lifetime of his uncle, there
fore he should be king, and he need not. trouble himself
with his customs nor with that which his Brahmans had
told him, for this should be so, and that he should be con
firmed in his kingdom ; for he and all the Portuguese who
were there, and many others whom the King his Lord
would send from Portugal, would spend their lives in his
service, and in sustaining him in his estate ; and therefore
let him send word to his cousin — if he were still in Vaipim
— to depart forthwith and to quit the island, because, if he
were unwilling to do so, he was determined to fall upon
him and destroy him and all those who should be found in
his company.
And because Afonso Dalboquerque, as long as he was
Governor of India, always made use of artifices with the
kings and lords thereof, in order to instil terror into them
and draw them over to his alliance and to preserve the
authority of the state of the King D. Manuel, when he
uttered these words he rose up out of his chair wherein he
was seated, and drew out his sword, and declared to the Kiug
of Cochim that he ought not to be afraid of all the power of
the King of Calicut, for he was his Naire,^ and for him he
' See vol. i, page 3, note. ' See vol. i, page 4, note.

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 239
would lay down his life, whenever it should be required of
him ; and that neither the King of Calicut nor his pagodes^
would avail anything with his cousin against him ; and as
this was the true state of the case he would beg him of his
goodness to remain for ever a true and loyal ally of the
King D. Manuel, his lord, and to be grateful to him for
the love and goodwill which he had evinced towards him by
ordering his elevation to the throne, and to act in such a
manner as not to lose this, because there was nothing which
could destroy him except his ingratitude towards the King,
his lord, in return for the kindness which had been shewn
to him ; and he would promise him that, on the conclusion
of the business at Goa, he would afford him an opportunity
of wreaking his vengeance upon the King of Calicut.
The King of Cochim replied, that he was the subject of
the King of Portugal, and therefore he had nothing to say
in the way of answer to these words of Afonso Dalboquer
que, except that he would always perform whatever was re
quired of him on the King's part. On the conclusion of
this interview, the King of Cochim returned to his palace,
and sent word to his cousin who was in Vaipim, on the
part of Afonso Dalboquerque, to quit the island and get
him gone without delay ; for if he did not go, Afonso Dal
boquerque would corae up against him with all his army
and destroy him. The King's cousin, as soon as he heard that
Afonso Dalboquerque had arrived with the object of follow
ing him up and destroying him, quitted the island and
desisted from the dissensions which he had kept up with the
King of Cochim, and departed.
Now that these disturbances had been settled, Afonso
Dalboquerque summoned to meet him Gongalo de Sequeira,
and all the captains and officers of the King who were in
Cochim, and declared to them, that in all former councils
which he had held conceming the business at Goa, he had
' Pagodes, Pagodas ; here used figuratively for Brahmans or Priests.

240 COMMENTARIES OP
not cared to declare his opinion, in order that they should
not imagine that he desired to undertake that enterprise
rashly and more out of vengeance for what had already
taken place than because it was an important service for the
King, his lord ; but now he would assure them that if they
did not succeed in taking Goa, and if the league which had
been entered into between the Hidakao and the Kings of
Cambaya and Calicut flourished any longer, out of the ex
pectation they had of obtaining the assistance of the Grand
Sultan, it would be a very doubtful point whether the King
of Portugal could retain India ; and the principal motive
which impelled him to take in hand this deed was the
presence at this moment in India of so noble an army, so
many captains, so many ships from Portugal, which en
couraged him to do it ; therefore he begged them of their
goodness, before the officers of the King there present, that
since at Cananor they had been of opinion, for reasons
already given, that he should retum again to attack Goa,
to go wiUingly with him in the execution of his plans, for
if they all went just as they then were, they would not lose
the opportunity of making their voyage.
Then Gongalo de Sequeira and the other captains began
to declare that it would not be to the service of the King
for the ships of burthen to proceed to Goa, and that it would
also be reasonable to allow the men some opportunity of
performing their engagements, since they had come to
India with this object in view ; and thus they went on ad
ducing other arguments to excuse themselves from going
with him. Thereupon, Afonso Dalboquerque said to them,
that since they were searching out for inconveniences, to
the end that they should not render the King any service
in this enterprise, they raight reraain behind, for he had
made up his mind not to take any against their will, but
they must give an account of their conduct in Portugal to
the King their Lord; as for himself, his mind was quite

APONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 241
made up to go up against Goa with the 'army he had ; and
he trusted in the Passion of Our Lord, in whom he had
placed all his reliance, that before they could sail away to
Portugal, they would hear the news of how he was taking
his rest at ease within the city of Goa, and an unfortunate
creature must that' Portuguese cavalier reckon himself, were
such a good stroke of fortune to be gained, who should not
be found taking part in this deed ; and he intended to em
bark on the following morning, aud let those follow him
who chose to do so ; but many allowed themselves to re
main behind and would go no further.
So Afonso Dalboquerque set sail, leaving the cargo which
was to proceed this year to this kingdom [of Portugal]
already in proper order. And on arriving at Cananor he
found Lourengo Moreno, who had arrived but two days be
fore him, with the ships laden with supplies ; and Lourengo
Moreno related to him that on reaching Baticala, he had
immediately sent Pocaracem' to land to converse with the
rulers respecting the treaty which was to be concluded
between them, but he found them quite changed in
their opinions, and they had declared that they would do
nothing without first of all finding whether the King of
Narsinga, their lord, approved of it ; and seeing that they
were unwilling to come to any conclusion, he had laden his
ships and saUed away and touched at Onor and given the
letter to Tiraoja, who was busy getting himself ready, as
weU as the King of Gargopa, with all his people, with the
Intention of co-operating with hira in the Goa expedition, and
therefore he could proceed as soon as he pleased.
As soon as Lourengo Moreno had given to Afonso Dal
boquerque an account of what had passed, he was sent off
immediately with his ships to Cochim, to hasten the de
parture of the captains, and to see to the shipping of three
1 The name apparently of a Mahometan, employed as an interpreter
by the Portuguese, called Porcassem in chapter xlviii.

242 COMMENTARIES OP AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE.
elephants, which he had left there, to be conveyed to the
King D. Manuel in the ships which Afonso Dalboquerque
had set aside for this purpose. And when Lourengo Moreno
had set out, Duarte de Lemos besought Afonso Dalboquer
que to provide him a transport for himself and his brother,
for the purpose of proceeding to Portugal, since the King.
would have it so for his service. And Afonso Dalboquer
que, forgetting all the Ill-feeling which had now passed
away, gave him all he required, and commanded every
thing that was properly due to be paid to him and to his
servants, and invested him with the chief captainship of
seven ships, and supreme command over that fleet which
he was to exercise after passing clear of the coast of India,
and so dismissed him to make his way to Cochim. And
when he arrived there, he fell Into great dissensions with
the officers of the factory, and did other things, which I pass
over In silence, to have no murmurers who may say that I
was not Impartial. This Duarte de Lemos was a noble
fidalgo, and was the largest raan in Portugal, and very con
ceited, and had his front teeth inordinately long.

KND OF THE SECOND PAET.

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