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«* ftr .i.^-.L 1

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UN'.- - -* 1 TY

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BRIT. MUS., SLOAN E MS. 197, fol.o 18.

P.Barretto de Reserve's Portraits
DOM VASCO DA GAMA.

THE

COMMENTARIES

OF THE GREAT

AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE,

SECOND VICEROY OF INDIA.

TXAXSLATXD FROM Till

PORTUGUESE EDITION OF 1774,
TOitfj jtotrs anU an Sntrofcuctum,

WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, F.R.S.L,

tBMIOR 4MISTABT Or TBI BEFABTMBBT Or MABOBCEIPTB IB TBB BBITMB
MQtmOM; BOBOBABT UBBABIAB OF TBt BOTAI •OCIBTT OF

litbbatobb; boborabt sbobstabt or tb» bbitub

ABCBBOUMICAL AMOCIATIOB , ETC.

VOL. III.

" Be as acções d' Albuquerque fossem commune, e ordinárias; se as suas empresas
não passassem as metas do possível, nem a posteridade o collocaria na ordem dos
Heroes, nem o seu nome chegaria a merecer o reverente pasmo dos séculos futuros."—

Elogio por Fr. Xm. de Oliveira. - ^.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE IIAKLUYT SOCIETY.

Y.DCCC.LXXX.

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T. BICHAKDS, 37, GB11AT QUKBN STBBHT, W.C.

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COUNCIL

THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

CoLOiriL H. YULE, C.B., Pbbsidbxt.

Admibal C. R. DMNKWATKR BETHUNE, C.B. )

> Vicb-Pbbsidbhtb.
Majob-Gejtbbal Sib HENRY RAWLINSON, K.C.B. J

W. A. TYSSEN AMHERST, Esq., M.P.

Rbv. Db. G. P. BADGER, D.C.L.

J. BARROW, Esq.

WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, Esq.

E. H. BUNBURY, Esq.

Thb Eabl of DUCTE.

Captai» HANKEY, R.N.

Libitt.-Gbwbbal Sib J. HENRY LEFROY, C.B., K.C.M.G.

R. H. MAJOR, Esq.

Rbab-Admibal MAYNE, C.B.

Colovbl Sib WM. L. MEREWETHER, C.B., K.C.S.T.

DELMAR MORGAN, Esq.

Admiral Sib ERASMUS OMMANNEY, C.B.

Lobd ARTHUR RUSSKLL, M.P.

Tni Lobs STANLEY of Albhrlrt.

EDWARD THOMAS, Esq.

Libitt.-Gbbbbal Sib HENRY THUTLLIER, C.S.I.

CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, C.B., Hojtobaby Sbcbbtaby.

1 07222

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LIST OF CONTENTS.

Pi-GB

Portrait of Dom Vasco da Gama, Sixth Viceroy of India,

from MS. Sloan. 197, f. 18 . Frontispiece

Introduction . . . i

Chronology of Part III . xliii

Title to the Edition of 1774 — Part III . xlvii

Titles of the Chapters contained in the Third Part xlix

Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque — Part III . 1-264

44 Letter which the great Afonso Dalboquerque wrote to
the Hidalcâo as soon as Goa had been taken 11 . 20

"Speech of the great Afonso Dalboquerque before the

second storming of Malaca 11 . .115

44 Instructions to the Portuguese Ambassador setting out

to Siam 11 . . . .156

44 Oration of Camillo Portio to Pope Leo X, upon the
Conquest of Malaca 11 . . .172

"Letter of the great Afonso Dalboquerque to the King
of Portugal concerning the Maintenance of Portu-
guese Power in Goa 11 . . . 258

44 Articles which the King sent to Afonso Dalboquerque
concerning Goa 11 .... 268

Map of the Malay Peninsula and Adjacent Parts, from

the Portolano of Diego Homem, a.d. 1558 . To face p. 1

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CONTENTS.

Pedigree op the Kings op Malaca . . .83

Bird's-Eye View of Malaca, from Correa's Lendas da India

To face p. 122

Plan of the Fortifications of Malaca, from MS. Sloan.

197, f. 382 .... To face p. 137

Scheme of the Portuguese Coinage of Malaca . .140

Probable Plan of the Military Operations of Afonso

Dalboquerque against Roçalcao . . 224

Portrait of Diogo Lopes de Siqueyra, Fourth Viceroy of

India, from MS. Sloan. 197, f. 15 . To face p. 2.) 4

Appendix ..... 265

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INTRODUCTION.

o grande Cavalleiro,

Que ao vento velas deu na occidua parte,

E lá, onde infante o Sol dá luz primeiro,

Fixou das Quinas santas o Estendarte.

E com afronta do infernal guerreiro,

(Mercê do Coo) ganhou por força, e arte

áureo Reino, e trocou com pio exemplo

A profana mesquita em sacro templo.
• • * •

tempo chega, Alfonso, em que a santa

Sião terá por vós a liberdade,

A Monarquia, que hoje o Ceo levanta,

Devoto consagrando a eternidade.

O, bem nascida generosa planta,

Que em flor fructo ha de dar á Christandade,

E materia a mil cysnes, que, cantando

De vós, se hirâo comvosco eternizando.

De Christo a injusta morte vingou Tito
Na de Jerusalem total ruína :
E a vós, a quem Deos deu hum peito invitto,
Ser vingador de sua Fé destina.
Extinguir do Agareno o falso rito
He de vosso valor a empreza dina:
Tomai pois o bastão de empreza grande
Para o tempo que o Ceo marchar vos mande.
Malaca Conquistada
pelo grande Affonso De Albuquerque.

Poema de Francetco de Sa' de Mtnezeê.

The Third Part of the Commentaries of the Great
Afonso Dalboquerque, a translation of which is given
in this volume, maintains the interest in the Portu-
guese hero which was awakened by the previous

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li INTRODUCTION.

volumes. To the conquest of Ormuz and Goa, already
published, we have here in continuation the second
conquest of Goa, and the extension of the Portuguese
empire to the Malay peninsula.

The volume opens with the return of Afonso Dalbo-
querque to Cananor, from which port he set sail with
twenty ships, and put into Onor for supplies and water.
Here he learned the imposing strength of the Hidalcão
(about eight thousand Turks, Rumes, and Moors against
seventeen hundred Portuguese), from Timoja and the
friendly king of Garçopa, and then proceeded by way
of Anjadiva to the river of Goa. A council was here-
upon held, which resulted in an unanimous determina-
tion to attack the city at once, without relying upon
the aid promised by the native chiefs. The forces were
divided, but not without much opposition on the part
of the captains, into three companies : one, commanded
by Manuel da Cunha and Manuel de Lacerda, to attack
the stockades near the citadel ; another, under the
leadership of Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos, to storm
the palisades near the sea ; and a third, under the
command of the Viceroy himself, to take the stockades
in flank.

On the following morning, the 25th of November,
1510, with an effigy of their national patron, St.
James the greater, carried in the van, a general assault
was carried out, the stockades entered, and all who
resisted the onward progress of the besiegers put to
the sword ; while of those who fled away in their
panic over the numerous fords and passes an im-
mense number were drowned. In this brilliant en-

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INTRODUCTION. Ill

gagement seven of the Portuguese officers were killed,
among whom the author of the Commentaries espe-
cially signalises D. Jeronymo de Lima, André de
Afonseca, Antonio Graces, and Álvaro Gomez, while
on the side of the enemy not less than two thousand,
about one-fourth of the whole native strength, were
estimated to have perished.

In the sack which ensued, besides the miscellaneous
plunder, none of which Afonso Dalboquerque cared to
appropriate, a considerable quantity of artillery, muni-
tions, and horses were taken, and in accordance with
the bloodthirsty laws which appear to have regulated
such occasions, not only in India, but in other coun-
tries claiming to be far more civilised at the period,
no quarter was given; none of the hated sect of Maho-
met were spared ; men, women, and children were
mercilessly put to death ; and as a punishment for the
treachery of which the Moors had been guilty when
Afonso Dalboquerque took the city for the first time,
for four days incessantly the Portuguese and Hin-
doos poured out the blood of the Moors who were
found therein ; and it was ascertained that of men,
women, and children the number killed exceeded six
thousand. 1 On this occasion the Viceroy is stated to
have perpetrated a very horrible act of vengeance
against the enemy ; a mosque was filled with Moors
taken captive by the Hindoos and then set on fire ;
and among the people who thus perished was a de-
serter who had gone over to the Hidalcão and turned
Mahometan when Goa was taken for the first time.

1 Page 16.

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IV INTRODUCTION.

No time was lost by Afonso Dalboquerque iu forti-
fying the city, every one, from the highest to the low-
est, had to take his share of duty, and the walls, towers,
and ditches were completed in a marvellously short
space of time, " where it now stands", for the plan of
which the reader is referred to vol. ii, p. 88. 1 During
the excavations a bronze crucifix was dug up in the
course of demolishing some old foundations. Curiously
enough, Corrêa 2 mentions a similar discovery in No-
vember 1512 in these terms : "Também o Gouernador
n'estas nãos mandou a EIRey huma caixinha de prata, e
dentro metido hum corpo de crucificio, que foy achado
per hum homem cauando pêra fazer hum poço, è o
achou tendo feito coua de três braças, que se achou no
inuerno, que foy d'esta maneyra : que cauando hum
pobre homem pêra fazer hum poço, tendo altura de
três braças, achou hum corpo de crucificio de grandura
menos de hum palmo, aberto por detrás, muyto gastado,
e o rostro bom e barbas, e o braço direito polo cotouello
somente, e o esquerdo inteiro e o corpo e pernas e pés
enteiros, e feito de hum metal que ouriues e lapidairos
nun qua souberão conhecer, nem com o buril o poderão
descobrir, que nada entrava n'elle : o que fez grande
espanto no Gouernador e todos os fidalgos, que caso
podia ser em tal lugar terra de mouros de tantos annos,

1 One of the most exhaustive works on Portuguese Goa is that
entitled, " An Historical and Archaological Sketch of the City of
Goa, preceded by a short Statistical Account of the Territory of
Goa, written by authorisation of the Government, by José Nicolau
da Fonseca, President of the ' Sociedade dos Amigos das Letras'."
Bombay, 1878, 8vo. * Ltiidas da índia, 1, ii, p. 328.

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INTRODUCTION. V

sem auer memoria que nunqua n'ella ouvesse christãos."
" The governor, Afonso Dalboqueíque, also sent to the
king in these ships a small casket of silver, and within
it the figure of our Saviour from a crucifix, which had
been found by a poor man who was digging the
foundation for a well. This man found it when he
had dug down as deep as three fathoms, and it was in
the winter under the following circumstances. There
was a poor man digging the foundation for a well, and
at the depth of three fathoms he found the figure from
a crucifix of the height of- less than a palm, hollow
behind, very worn, but the countenance and beard
well preserved ; the right arm broken off at the elbow,
the left whole, the body, legs, and feet uninjured, made
of a metal unknown to the goldsmiths and lapidaries,
for it could not be scratched with the point of a graver.
This excited great wonder in the governor and Fidal-
goes how it could have chanced to get into such a place,
for so many years the country of Moors, in which
there was no remembrance of there ever having been
any Christian inhabitants. "

In return for this victory Afonso Dalboquerque made
several presents to the convent of Palmela, the head
of the military order of Santiago, and to the church of
the same saint in Gallicia a lamp, and money to be
invested for the supply of oil for the lamp. A similar
gift of a lamp and provision for its oil was made by
the viceroy on a later occasion, when he narrowly
escaped death from a cannon ball.

The news of the fall of Goa effected a rapid change
in the attitude of the Indian princes towards the Portu-

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VI INTRODUCTION.

guese. The king of Cambaya set free D. Afonso de
Noronha, nephew of Afonso Dalboquerque, and offered
the site for a fortress at Diu, and the preparation of a
Turkish fleet to operate against the Portuguese was
countermanded by the Grand Sultan of Cairo. The
letter sent by Dalboquerque to the Hidaicão announcing
the capture of Goa, and offering the monopoly of the
important trade in horses, also plainly shows the rapid
exaltation of Portuguese prestige in consequence of
this event. Not long after this, Meliqueaye, (perhaps
the Portuguese equivalent of Melek Yahya,) was sent
by the Hidaicão against the island, but he and his
numerous army were routed without much difficulty,
and the erection of the fortress, the colonisation of the
newly acquired territory by Hindoo families (a race to
whom Afonso Dalboquerque, throughout his career,
always manifested great kindness), and the consolida-
tion of the government of the province, for province
indeed it was, proceeded rapidly and without inter-
ruption.

The advent of the royal Hindoo Merlao (or Milrrhau,
as he is called in the latter part of this volume) enabled
Afonso Dalboquerque to gratify the native Hindoos
and Nequibares, and at the same time to ingratiate
himself with them, by conferring upon him the farmer-
generalship of the newly acquired territory for about
thirty thousand pounds — a considerable sum in those
days, and a welcome addition to the revenues of
Portugal. But these matters did not cause the Vice-
roy to forget the other parts of his Indian jurisdiction,
and in accordance with Royal instructions he dispatched

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INTRODUCTION. Vil

Diogo Fernandez de Beja with a fleet of three ships to
dismantle the fortress of Socotra. 1

The fall of the important city of Goa brought the
Çamorin of Calicut to the feet of Afonso Dalboquerque
for the time, and his offers of peace resulted in the
mission of Simão Rangel, but on the arrival of that
ambassador at the Camorim's court that prince had
somewhat recovered from his alarm, and his artifices
succeeded in protracting negotiations, which were not
to be crowned with success for a long time yet to come,

1 The island was taken possession of by the Portuguese in
1507, but passed from the possession of Portugal to that of
the Sultan of Keshin, a small territory on the opposite Arabian
coast. This island is off the gulf of Aden, situated about 150
miles N.E. from Cape Guardafum, and extends about seventy or
eighty miles from west to east, with an average width of fifteen or
twenty miles. It contains 1,300. square miles, consisting chiefly
of a table land, which is between 700 or 800 feet above the level
of the sea. North and south of the table land are two plains.
The northern plain is not so low as the southern, nor so level, the
surface being intersected by flat valleys in many places. The
western districts of this plain, though less sterile than the
southern plain, are more adapted for pastures than for culti-
vation. The eastern districts have a superior soil, which is a
reddish earth, covered in certain seasons with abundant grass, and
well adapted for the cultivation of grain, fruit, and vegetables.
In most of the northern plains water is found at a depth of from
8 feet to 10 feet below the surface. The climate is sultry. During
the north-east monsoon there is an almost daily fall of rain. The
island is exposed both to the north-west and north-east monsoons,
rendering the anchorages unsafe. There are about 5,000 inhabit-
ants, consisting of two distinct races — namely, Arabs who have
settled on the island, and the aboriginal inhabitants, who are
Bedouins, wandering from one part of the island to another with
their flocks and herds. The principal commercial products are
aloes of the finest quality, the dragon's-blood tree, tamarinds,

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VIU INTRODUCTION.

and Afonso Dalboquerquc contented himself with a
blockade of Calicut by a small and probably inefficient
fleet, which was compelled by the disastrous turn of
affairs at Goa to hasten to the relief of the besieged
garrison there.

Another Indian potentate, whose policy was mani-
festly disturbed by the Portuguese successes, was the
King of Narsinga, to whom Fray Luiz had been ac-
credited by Afonso Dalboquerque in the previous year. 1
This king hastened, after some tergiversation, to con-
clude an alliance with the Portuguese commander, but
Fray Luiz did not live to return, being murdered at
the reported instigation of the Hidaicao.

After putting the local government of the city and
island of Goa into a satisfactory condition, dedicating
the principal church to the patronage of St. Catherine,

tobacco, and various fruits and gums, besides some cotton and
indigo. Sheep and goats in the western districts constitute the
principal wealth of the inhabitants ; the oxen are small. The
civet cat and chameleon are found all over the island. Turtles
are found on the southern coast. Fish abound on several parts
of the coast, and many families live on the produce of their fish-
ing. The capital is Tamarida, with only 100 inhabitants, built
not far from the northern shores.

As the island lies almost directly in the line of our communi-
cation with India from the Red Sea, it has acquired additional
importance by the construction of the Suez Canal, and this con-
sideration has, without doubt, determined the action of the Indian
Government, which, in 1876, entered into a treaty by which, for
a small subsidy, the Sultan engaged never to cede Socotra to
any foreign power, nor to allow any settlement to be made on it
without the consent of the British Government. The Indian
Government has lately re-occupied the island, and the British
flag was rehoisted there not long ago.

» See vol. n, ch. xvii.

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INTRODUCTION. IX

on whose auspicious feast day be had gained the
victory, appointing various officers, munitioning the
fortress, assisting by beneficent measures the colonisa-
tion of the lands, and re-establishing the currency, it
was Afonso Dalboquerque's intention to have proceeded
without delay to the Red Sea ; but two events had
transpired which caused him to change his mind, and
this change was productive of unexpectedly great and
glorious achievements, which added new lustre to the
already brilliant career of the Viceroy.

One of these was the circumstance of the continued
captivity of Ruy de Araújo and his companions in
Malaca against the advice of Ninachatu (or Ninapam,
as Corrêa calls him), the Hindoo adviser of the king of
that country, the other the natural desire of Diogo
Mendez de Vasconcelos, who had come from Portugal
under special orders to effect the release of these
prisoners, to make his way thither without delay,
although Afonso Dalboquerque, in the exercise of his
undoubted authority, desired to put off this under-
taking for a more convenient opportunity, when a more
imposing force than that which Diogo Mendez de Vas-
concelos commanded could be mustered for the service.
The determined intention and endeavour of Diogo
Mendez to separate from' the fleet of his superior
officer, in direct opposition to orders, did not succeed
at the time, yet this act undoubtedly operated with
some weight in influencing the subsequent movements
of Afonso Dalboquerque, who, finding the winds adverse
to his intended voyage to the Red Sea, reversed his
course, and after a brief stoppage at Cochim, shaped

vol. in. c

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X INTRODUCTION.

his way as straight as he could for Malaca, and brought
up his fleet at Pedir, on the northern coast of Sumatra.

At this port the hopes of the Portuguese were raised
in a remarkable degree by the unexpected meeting
with João Viegas and eight other members of the little
band under the headship of Ruy de Araújo, that had
escaped from their durance at Malaca. These men
pointed out to Afonso Dalboquerque the complicity of
the Moor Naodabegea or Naodabeguea in the plot to
destroy Diogo Lopez de Sequeira and his retreat to
Pace, a neighbouring port at which the Portuguese
fleet touched, and made ineffectual efforts to get him"
into the hands of the commander. But on the advance
of the fleet towards the waters of Malaca the Moor
was overtaken in a pangajaoa, and after a sharp
encounter, in which the enemy were worsted, the
curious spectacle of the fugitive Naodabegea, severely
wounded and nearly dead, but without any blood flow-
ing from his mangled body, presented itself to the
astonished eyes of the Portuguese. This apparently
unaccountable circumstance was explained by the find-
ing of a bracelet made of the bones of the animal
called cabal, a word which appears to be related some-
what too transparently with that signifying horse in
many European languages. The peculiar power pos-
sessed by this bracelet of preventing the flow of blood
from any wounds which the wearer should experience
recalls the incident of the magic scabbard of King
Arthur's sword, Excalibur. In the Morte â! Arthur
we read : " ' Well/ said the damsel, ' go ye into yonder
barge, and row yourself unto the sword, and take it

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INTRODUCTION. XI

and the scabbard with you* So King Arthur and

Merlin alighted, tied their horses to two trees, and so
they went into the barge. And when they came to
the sword that the hand held, King Arthur took it up

by the handles, and took it with him and so came

to the land and rode forth. King Arthur looked upon
the sword and liked it passing well. * Whether liketh
you better/ said Merlin, 'the sword or the scabbard?'
' Me liketh better the sword/ said King Arthur. ' Ye
are more unwise/ said Merlin, 'for the scabbard is
worth ten of the sword, for while ye have the scabbard
upon you ye shall lose no blood, be ye never so sore
wounded, therefore keep well the scabbard always with
you.'" This strangely gifted bracelet was sent by
Afonso Dalboquerque to the King of Portugal, but was
lost on the voyage, with other unwonted evidences
of his prowess, and rare trophies of Portuguese valour
over the unknown races of the Eastern world.

After the incident of capturing a junk, on board of
which was the King of Pace, who was evidently
making the best of his way to Malaca to warn the
king of the propinquity of the hostile Armada, Malaca
was reached, and negotiations were immediately com-
menced for the restitution of the Portuguese captives,
and for satisfaction of the insult done to that nation by
their detention ; but this only resulted in the king
temporising with Afonso Dalboquerque while he secretly
made extensive preparations to withstand his demands.
At this point the author of the Commentaries breaks
off for the moment the thread of his narrative, and
devotes a chapter to a historical digression upon the

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XU INTRODUCTION.

site and foundation of the kingdom and city of Malaca,
and another chapter to a description of the customs
and government of the city. We may here, in like
manner for the moment so far digress, as to glance at
the impression made by Malaca, in its present phase of
existence, upon the learned Mr. Wallace, in his most
interesting work on the Malay Archipelago. Writing
in 1869 the author says : —

" At present 1 a vessel over a hundred tons hardly ever
enters its port, and the trade is entirely confined to a few
petty products of the forests, and to the fruit which the
trees planted by the old Portuguese now produce for the
enjoyment of the inhabitants of Singapore. Although
rather subject to fevers, it is not at present considered very
unhealthy.

" The population of Malacca consists of several races.
The ubiquitous Chinese are perhaps the most numerous,
keeping up their manners, customs, and language ; the in-
digenous Malays are next in point of numbers, and their
language is the Lingua-franca of the place. Next come the
descendants of the Portuguese — a mixed, degraded, and
degenerate race, but who still keep up the use of their
mother-tongue, though ruefully mutilated in grammar ; and
then there are the English rulers, and the descendants of
the Dutch, who all speak English. The Portuguese spoken
at Malacca is a useful philological phenomenon. The verbs
have mostly lost their inflections, and one form does for all
moods, tenses, numbers, and persons. Eu vai serves for ' I
go', ' I went', or ' I will go'. Adjectives, too, have been
deprived of their feminine and plural terminations, so that
the language is reduced to a marvellous simplicity, and,
with the admixture of a few Malay words, becomes rather
puzzling to one who has heard only the pure Lusitanian.

1 Alfred R. Wallace, Hie Malay Archipelago. Loudon, 8vo.,
1869, pp. 41, 42.

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INTRODUCTION. Xlll

"In costume, these several peoples are as varied as in
their speech. The English preserve the tight-fitting coat,
waistcoat, and trousers, and the abominable hat and cravat;
the Portuguese patronise a light jacket, or, more frequently,
shirt and trousers only; the Malays wear their national
jacket and sarong (a kind of kilt), with loose drawers ; while
the Chinese never depart in the least from their national
dress, which indeed it is impossible to improve for a tropi-
cal climate, whether as regards comfort or appearance. The
loosely-hanging trousers, and neat, white half shirt half
jacket, are exactly what a dress should be in this low lati-
tude.^

The testimony also of the gifted author of a recent
work upon the Straits of Malaca may be here perused
with advantage, for its characteristic touches upon the
state of the settlement in 1875. Mr. J. Thomson
says : —

" I paid a passing visit 1 to Malacca, but finding it neither
an interesting nor a profitable field, I made but a short stay
in the place. Malacca is a quaint, dreamy, Dutch-looking
old town, where one may enjoy good fruit, and the fellow-
ship and hospitality of the descendants of the early Portu-
guese and Dutch colonists.

"Should any warmhearted bachelor wish, he might
furnish himself with a pretty and attractive looking wife
from among the daughters of that sunny clime; but let him
make no long stay there if indisposed to marry, unless he
can defy the witchery of soft dark eyes, of raven tresses,

1 J. Thomson, F.RG.S., The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China,
and China. London, 1875, 8vo., pp. 52, 53. For further infor-
mation upon Malacca and the adjacent countries and islands, the
reader may consult with advantage the work by J. H. Moor, on
The Indian Archipelago, Singapore, 1837, 4to. ; Newbold, British
Settlements of Malacca, 1839 ; Crawford, Dictionary of the Indian
Archipelago.

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XIV INTRODUCTION.

and of sylph-like forms. It is a spot where leisure seems to
sit at every man's doorway ; drowsy as the placid sea, and
idle as the huge palms whose broad leaves nod above the
old weather-beaten smug-looking houses. Here Nature
comes laden at each recurring season with ripe and luscious
fruits, dropping them from her lap into the very streets,
and bestrewing the bye ways with glorious bananas on which
even the fat listless porkers in their wayside walks, will
hardly deign to feed. It is withal a place where one might
loiter away a life, dreamily, pleasantly, and uselessly. These
are but passing impressions, and Malacca may yet, after all,
develop into something in every way worthy of the straits
which bear its name."

In this chapter also the author of the Commentaries
has put on record some early and interesting informa-
tion concerning the inhabitants of Lequea, or the Loo-
choo Islands, who are there called Gores and maintained
considerable trade with the Malay settlements in the
peninsula. These islands have lately become somewhat
prominent in Asiatic politics, in consequence of the dis-
agreement between China and Japan, produced by the
forcible seizure of them by the latter power.

The Politische Correspondem gives an official review
of the dispute between China and Japan regarding the
Loo-choo Islands, in a letter from Shanghai dated
July 18, 1879. It says :—

" The Japanese Government took possession with a mili-
tary force of the Loo-Choo Islands last April, and trans-
ported its Governor, who called himself a King, and yearly
paid tribute both to China 1 and Japan, to Yeddo. He

1 With respect to the relations of the Loo-Choo Empire to
China, it is proved from Chinese historical works that even in the
earliest times, during the reigns of the Emperors of the dynasty

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INTRODUCTION. XV

here received the rank and income of a Japanese Prince.
At the same time he was replaced by a Japanese Governor,
and the whole country placed under Japanese control ; the
paying of tribute to China was stopped, and the Chinese
system of a calculation of time was replaced by the
Japanese calendar. 1 All these changes were so well pre-
pared, so quickly carried out, that they were only known
after they had actually taken place, although at the time
doubted. Everybody was curious to know what steps the
Chinese would take in the matter.

" The little Loo-Choo Empire extends between 20 and
30 degrees of latitude, in a north-eastern direction, from
the northern end of Formosa to the southern end of
Japan. It is composed of over three hundred little islands,
and divided into three large groups, called Tshung-shan,
Shan-nan, and Shan-pei. This geographical arrangement
is also the political arrangement, as the three groups
form the three provinces of the Empire, which are again
divided into thirty-five districts, and these into 378 parishes.
The capital town, at the same time the former residence of
the Prince, is Ewang, on the Tshung-shan. Of the number
of the inhabitants nothing positive is known, but they are
a peace-loving people, cultivating their land and carrying
on cattle breeding. Their habits and dress are similar to
those of the Chinese. They write in Chinese characters,
but the common dialect is similar to the Japanese. Re-
garding the real history of the people nothing at all is
known.

"The Loo-Choo Islands were the causes of continual

Han, the Princes of the Loo-Choo Islands paid their tribute to
China. In the nineteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Kanghi
(1681), the tribute to be sent was settled as follows: — 12,600
catties of sulphur, 3,000 muschels, and 30,000 catties of copper.
One cattle is 1 l-31b. English.

1 Since 1372 of the Christian calculation, the Chinese calendar
has been in use on the Loo-Choo Islands, the years being named
and numbered according to the Chinese Emperors.

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XVI INTRODUCTION.

quarrel between China and Japan in earlier times, tbe latter
having repeatedly tried to annex this little island-empire.
In the nineteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Wan-li
(1592), a number of the inhabitants of the Loo-Choo islands
were delegated to China to complain of Japan's attempts to
annex the islands by force. These efforts, as well as others
made in 1606, were frustrated. Yang-Tsung Ye, the Chinese
Commander-in-Chief of the province Chekiang, brought
(also in Wan-li's reign in 1613) the Prince of the Loo-Choo
Islands, who governed then, and who had been forcibly
carried off by the Japanese, back again into his kingdom.

" It is not to be doubted that, although the Chinese are
able to prove historically a certain Suzerainty over the Loo-
choo Islands, the Japanese can also do the same ; in fact,
both Empires have hitherto considered the Loo-Choo islands
a state dependent on them; both the Emperors of China
. and of Japan style themselves Suzerain of the Loo-Choo
Islands, and it will have to be proved which of the two is
able to prove supremacy and to keep it.

" When the news of the seizing of the Loo-Choo islands
by Japan reached Pekin, great surprise and dissatisfaction
was shown among the supporters of the Government. A
few days earlier the new Japanese Ambassador at Pekin
had presented his credentials without taking advantage of
the occasion to say a word. On Prince Knng and the
Ministers of the Tsnngli-Yamen appealing to him regarding
the action of his Government, he replied that he was, with
regard to this question, without any instructions whatever.
The Japanese Government, in answer to the Chinese Am-
bassador's appeal at Yeddo, replied that they were ready to
prove at any time their right to the Loo-Choo Islands, and
that a giving up of them could never be thought of. Japan,
who only would yield what she had taken by force of arms,
to do which China has not the means, having neither money,
an army, and, least of all, a fleet.

"From authentic quarters it is affirmed that Prince
Kung conferred with ex-President Grant, who visited

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INTRODUCTION. XVII

Pekin lately, on this question. Prince Kung begged his
intervention. General Grant may have given his word to
introduce this subject in a private conversation, but not
officially, as the General in his retired position would un-
doubtedly avoid even exercising a seeming influence on the
politics of the present Government of the United States.

"In Pekin, 1 according to the latest news, the excite-
ment seems to be on the increase; the Ministers of the
Tsungli-Yamên speak of war between China and Japan, but
they at the same time make it known that they will first
call in the intervention of the Foreign Powers, hoping thus
to attain restitution of their original position. But whether
such an intervention, in case of hostilities really breaking

1 I have extracted this from the Standard, which, at the time,
published the following remarks upon the situation of affairs : —
" The cloud which arose six months ago between China and Japan,
in consequence of the seizure by the latter of the Loo-choo Islands,
has not yet cleared off. In fact, it may be said that, despite the
hope prevailing among the European communities in the far East,
it has grown thicker in the months that have elapsed since the
Loo-Choo question first attracted attention. Nor does this afford
any just. ground for surprise. For centuries the Chinese have
exercised rights over the Prince of those Islands ; neither Japan
nor any other Power has ever challenged them; but suddenly
they discovered that the Mikado of Japan had taken possession of
the islands, deposed the Ruler, and nominated a Governor of his
own. He has since justified the seizure by asserting that the Loo-
Choo Islands have always been tributary to the Prince of Satsuma,
the great feudatory of Kinshin, who was finally overthrown in
1877. The Manchu dynasty has never been remarkable for its
indifference, nor, indeed, has any of its predecessors upon the
Throne of Pekin, to the rights which it has acquired ; and the
Japanese Government took this step at a moment when the
Chinese had given signal proof not only of their determination
not to abate one jot of their pretensions, but also of their ability
to enforce them. It is true that months have passed since the
tidings reached China that a Japanese garrison held Loo-Choo,
and that a Japanese fleet was riding in the roadstead of Napa-

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XV111 INTRODUCTION.

out, would be granted is difficult to predict. Anyhow, the
attitude of China to England in the serious difficulties
between China and Japan some years ago regarding For-
mosa is too fresh in people's memory not to be profitably
used at the present time.

"The inhabitants of the Loo-Choo Islands are said to
have sent a deputation to Pekin to beg her direct help in
their favour. The Japanese consuls in the Chinese ports
have received orders by telegraph to seize the members of
the deputations on their appearing and send them back
to Japan. A Japanese corvette is now at Shanghai, and
two other Japanese men-of-war are cruising about in Chinese
waters. In case of this news being true, the deputation

kiang without beholding a Chinese fleet and army being despatched
to reassert the Imperial authority. But it is not in accordance
with Chinese habits to be precipitate, even if the supposed effici-
ency of the Japanese fleet were not an additional incentive to
caution. The latest official announcement is one fully in conso-
nance with the train of thought of the official Chinese mind. A
despatch has been sent to the Mikado informing him that, unless
the Japanese forces are withdrawn, and Loo-Choo restored to its
old state of semi-independence and doable vassalage to China and
Japan, within the space of three months, he must take the con-
sequences. The Japanese are anxious to have the matter sub-
mitted to either a mixed Commission or to an arbitrator, knowing
well that Europeans, and Englishmen in particular, have little
sympathy with the claims China possesses, and periodically ad-
vances, over most of the States of Eastern Asia. The Tokio
authorities perceive that, in the eyes of most foreigners, China's
grievance with regard to Loo-Choo is sentimental, for the Pekin
Government does not demand the surrender of the islands. Far
from that, it wishes to ensure their autonomy, only demanding
the perpetuation of the nominal tie and of the fluctuating tribute
which have constituted Loo-Choo in its eyes a portion of the
Celestial Empire. There are deeper motives behind, and under-
neath all this talk about the past there is a very clear per-
ception of the fact that the Loo-Choo question is one of practical
importance. "

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INTRODUCTION. XIX

may have succeeded in landing on some place on the coast,
and making their way to Pekin, 1 where, however, they have
not yet arrived. Leaving aside the question of the right of
possession, it is not to be denied that the Japanese have
shown great skill and energy in carrying out their purpose,
and an exact knowledge of Chinese affairs. China will be

1 " At Pekin it is evident that the Japanese occupation of the
Islands constitutes a grave danger to China. An insult of such
a venial character to the Imperial dignity might be tolerated;
but a menace to the nation must be grappled with, so that it shall
not develope into an actual peril. It is on this point that some-
thing may, with advantage, be said at the present time, when
various circumstances are calculated to put the Japanese view so
prominently forward that the Chinese claims may be lost sight of.
The gist of the difference lies in the question, why is the Japanese
occupation of Loo-Choo dangerous to the peace of China. Be-
tween China and Japan there has been for centuries a rivalry, not
very dissimilar to that which existed for a long time between
France and England. The introduction of Western ideas, arts,
and manufactures into the two countries, far from allaying the
keenness of the rivalry, had rather the effect of embittering it.
The very eagerness shown by the Japanese to acquire gunboats
and improved weapons was a grievance in the eyes of the con-
servative Chinese, for they felt that their neighbours would test
their naval and military efficiency either upon them or against
some of their outlying possessions. The example set by the
Japanese proved contagious, however, and there is good reason for
believing that the Celestials have now, mainly through the energy
of the Viceroy Li-Hung-Chang, caught up with their progressive
neighbour, so far as the purchase of men of war, rules, and im-
proved artillery can be said to constitute progress. For military
purposes the two States may be admitted to be much on an
equality, provided the numerous responsibilities of the Pekin
Government do not detract from its vigour at the critical moment.
At the same time, the advantage of position undoubtedly lies with
Japan, and this would enable her fleet to prosecute an offensive
war on the exposed seaboard of China with very considerable
effect. The occupation of Loo-Choo further improves that posi-

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XX INTRODUCTION.

quite as incapable of taking the islands from Japan as she
was in preventing her from seizing them. Even Japan
may j after these first successful efforts, at no very distant
time take steps to occupy Formosa, where new sources of
wealth, exhausted in her own country, are to be found in
rich abundance."

tion, for the excellent harbour of Napakiang in its sheltered bay
provides the Mikado's fleet with a station on the flank of the
Eastern and Yellow Seas, within two days' steaming of the coasts
of Fuhkien and Chekiang. But it has further advantages which
have not been mentioned, and prominent among them must be
held to be that the possession of the Loo-Choo Islands carries
with it that of the little-known Madjicosemah group. This latter
lies off the east coast of Formosa, and has enjoyed in the eyes of
the neighbouring countries a semi-sacred reputation, not widely
different to that held by the Hespérides in the mythology of
ancient Greece. The two largest of the group are Pachuran and
Typinsan ; and the coast of Formosa is less than one hundred and
fifty miles distant from the former. It thus appears that the
apparently harmless act of the Japanese in deposing the king of
Loo-Choo has resulted in their acquisition of two groups of islands,
representing a tract of territory as large as England and Wales,
and having a commanding position in waters which have always
been considered to be Chinese. A glance at the map will suffice
to show that the Mikado has now obtained possession of two ad-
mirable halting-places on the road to Formosa and the China
coast. By the acquisition of Napakiang he has supplemented the
value of his own western harbours, and there is no reason for
supposing that Pachusan does not contain convenient bays and
safe roadsteads. These facts should show that the Loo-Choo
question is one not of sentiment alone to the Chinese, but of
serious practical import. Unfamiliar as the names of these places
may be to us they are well known in the history of China, and
the Pekin rulers are aware that as they have in past times exer-
cised considerable influence on the result of wars between China
and Japan, it is quite probable that they would do so again in
any future struggle.

" The hostile policy which Japan has always pursued towards

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INTRODUCTION. XXI

Negotiations with the King of Malaca having failed,
Afonso Dalboquerque made extensive preparations for
resorting to force, and, as a preliminary step, attracted
to his side a merchant fleet of five Chinese junks, having
a force on board which the King of Malaca was about

China, her intrigues in Corea, and expeditions to Formosa, have
kept the vigilance of the Celestials constantly on the alert. Li-
Hung-Chang now beholds the Mikado, strong in his new freedom
and liberated from the dread of his arrogant Daimios, stretching
out his hand to the north and to the south for the purpose of
extending his influence and curtailing that of China. Within the
last few months Japan has committed two acts which will further
incense her rival. The one is the occupation of the Loo-Choo
and Madjicosemah Islands, which brings her close to Formosa, the
Chinese Ireland, and the other is the signature of a Treaty with
the King of Corea, which gives Japanese subjects special privi-
leges in that country. The Mikado has thus not restricted his
aggressive policy to the sea. His alliance with the ruler of the
peninsula of Corea gives him a foothold on the mainland, which
acquires special significance from the remembrance of the siege
of Nankin and triumphs on the Yangtse by the Japanese in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These considerations, and
others of a similar kind, make it very improbable that the Chinese
will acquiesce in the most recent achievement brought about by
the aggressive policy of Japan. To them it will appear to be a
bad policy to show weakness with regard to Loo-Choo. The
Japanese are the aggressors. They have no sufficient excuse for
their seizure of this group, and they have for years followed a
systematic policy which would, if China continued as indifferent
as she is now counselled by some of her friends to remain, lead
to the loss of every island she possesses beyond the immediate
vicinity of her shores. If Sir Thomas Wade, or some other
leading authority on the spot, cannot induce the Japanese to
withdraw, the Chinese will, beyond all question, take the matter
into their own hands, and at the fitting moment endeavour to
expel the Japanese from the islands which they have seized."
— lb.

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XXU INTRODUCTION.

to employ in military operations against the King of
Daru or Aru, 1 a state on the coast of Sumatra, nearly
opposite the port of Malaca, with which he was at
war.

On the feast day of St. James the Greater the storm-
ing of the bridge or pier was made, under circum-
stances narrated in the text, and a great part of the
city fired. These operations, although they did not
result immediately in the fall of the city, severely
harrassed the enemy, and crippled his resources. The
author of Malaca Conquistada records the subsequent
attack upon and destruction of the city by fire in these
stanzas.

" Em tanto das janellas, e terrados,
Que para aquella parte respondião,
Mil frechas, mil pelouros desmandados
Sobre a gente Christã mortes chovião :
Mas, chamando Albuquerque aos esforçados
Lima e Caldeira, áquelles que região,
Lhes mandou que de fogo as mãos armassem,
E que as vizinhas casas abrazassem.

" Manda também o Malavar valente
Que com os seus adustos tiradores
Impida o assomarse a imiga gente
As partes, que lhe ficão superiores.
Da empreza o forte bárbaro contente
Os seus incita a bellicos furores :
Mil, e mil frechas logo os ares calão,
Troços de breados cabos fogo exhalão.

1 The initial " D" here, as in Dupe lower down, is plainly only
the Portuguese preposition de in combination. The place appears
as Daru in the Portolano of Fernão Vaz Dourado, and as Aru in
the map given by the Dutch translator of João de Barros.

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INTRODUCTION, XXU1

" Dâo ao mandato effeito : pega o fogo
Na disposta materia : com tremenda
Faria vibrantes pontas sobem logo
Aos ares, e de fumo nuvem horrenda :
Grita a mísera gente ; porém rogo
Não admitte a voraz chamma, contenda
Com as nuvens horrisona travando,
As esferas mais altas ameaçando.

" Eolo neste ponto desatava
Da formosa Orithia o bravo amante,
Com que o incêndio cruel mais se esforçava,
Com horrível estrondo crepitante.
Contra o fogo remédios mil buscava
A Pagã gente, mas nenhum bastante,
Que c'o vento de casa em casa prende,
E, consumindo aqui, já lá se accende.

" Edifício, em grandeza, e valor raro,
Sobre secretas rodas se movia,
Finge a matéria o mármore de Paro
Illustre c'o metal, que Arabia cria.
Nelle, se lhe não fora o fado avaro,
Da Infante as bodas celebrar queria
O Rei, e com alegre variedade
Carro triunfante dar vista á cidade.

" k nupcial casa, de delicias chêa,
Também se atreve o vingativo lume,
E na materia rica assi se atêa,
Que em leve fumo, e cinza em fim a resume :
Delia a mesquita, onde com torpe e íea
Adoração, e bárbaro costume,
Ao vil Mafoma honrava a gente cega,
A flamma ardente em consumir se emprega.

" Á mesquita esquadrão confuso acode,
E procura atalhar o fogo. Em tanto
Vendo o prudente Affonso que não pode
Cansada a gente com trabalho tanto ;

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XXIV INTRODUCTION.

Porque o intento ao possível se aocommode;
Em quanto o incêndio dura, e creoe o pranto,
Â artilharia embarcar manda ganhada,
E a que em terra ficou deixa encravada.

" O esquadrão militar logo começa
A ir, e vir, despojos embarcando,
Como no estio com fervente pressa
Multidão de formigas, saqueando
De trigo as eiras, montes atravessa
Por entre ervas, e espinhos, sustentando
Na boca o grão pezado, até encerrallo,
E na estreita caverna enthesourallo.

" Às barbaras catervas offend idas,
Quando tanto despojo embarcar virão ;
A dar e recebir novas feridas
Bramando vingativos acodirão.
Torna de novo a morte a troncar vidas :
Aqui appellidão Marte, alli suspirão ;
Em fim effeitos crus de dura guerra
No mar ostentão, porém mais na terra.

" Rios correm do sangue derramado ;
Que, nas ondas entrando, em sanguinosa
Mudão a cor cerúlea : de ira armado
Se vè o mesmo furor, vista espantosa !
Mas já fim dava ao dia o Sol dourado
Do grande Oceano visitando a esposa :
Torna-se ás naus a baptizada gente ;
A Agarena o elemento apaga ardente."

Liv. ix, st. 134-143.

The Javanese headman, Utemutaraja, who adminis-
tered the suburban district of Upe or Dupe, 1 made
overtures of service, and for the time, but not without
showing suspicions, which were afterwards verified,

1 See p. xxii.

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INTRODUCTION. XXV

Afonso Dalboquerque accepted his services. In the
end, probably out of political necessity quite as much
as proved guilt, this prince was convicted of treachery,
and executed with his son and son-in-law, as an
effectual means of restoring quiet in, and manifesting
the Portuguese power over, the city. The Chinese,
who had come for trading purposes in their junks,
seized this opportunity of renewing their request for
permission to depart on the prosecution of their voyage
to Siam, and the Portuguese commander gladly availed
himself of the occasion to send Duarte Fernandez as
ambassador to Siam in their company.

After a characteristic speech, setting forth the Im-
perial policy of the Portuguese king, Afonso Dalbo-
querque again pushed forward in full strength, as-
saulted the bridge, and made good his position upon
it. From that hour the fate of Malaca was sealed,
and soon fell an easy prey into the hands of the
commander, who thus captured in a city extending
three miles along the shore, and of great depth inland,
an incredible amount of plunder and three thousand
pieces of artillery, and added to Portugal a territory
considerably larger than the mother kingdom. But
the King of Malaca, although in full flight, was yet in
hopes of rescuing his patrimony from the foreign in-
vader, and dispatched his own uncle, Tuáo Nacem
Mudaliar, to the King of China, an empire at that
period in close alliance with the Malay king, to beg
for assistance. Tuão Nacem made his way to Canton,
and from that port was conveyed, according to custom,
to Pekin ; but the King of China, who had heard

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XXVI INTRODUCTION.

of the friendly treatment accorded by Afonso Dalbo-
querque (for this very political object) to the Chinese
merchants at MaJaca, was unwilling to act, and Tuâo
Nacem Mudaliar, partly out of chagrin for the failure
of his mission, and partly dispirited at the untimely
death of his wife, did not live to convey the news of
his repulse by the Chinese court to his royal nephew,
but died on the return journey at Yang-chow-fu or
Yang-cheu-fu, near Nanking. 1

A manuscript Report, in which is embodied a suc-
cinct historical relation of the principal European em-
bassies to China, now preserved among the Wellesley
papers in the MS. department of the British Museum,
very justly attributes to Afonso Dalboquerque the
design of establishing friendly relations with the
Chinese empire. This design was probably suggested
to him in the first place by the iutercourse he had with
the Chinese merchant junks in the port of Malaca at
the time of the siege. The following passage describes
briefly the first dealings of Portugal and China : —

"Alphonso Albuquerque (from whose wise administra-
tion, while Viceroy in the East Indies, Portugal derived
such advantages) formed the design of opening a communi-
cation with China, though he did not live to see it at-
tempted. Iu consequence of intelligence sent by him to
the Court of Portugal, a squadron sailed from Lisbon, in
1518, to convoy an Ambassador to China. The Abbé
Raynal's account of this Embassy is as follows : —

1 Yang-cheu-fu, in Kiang-su, 32 deg. 26.32 min. N., 117 deg.
4.13 min. K, was, in 1277, under the Mongols, a /«, or chief town
of a district. Marco Polo is said to have been governor of this
town for three years. He cites it under the name of Yanju. But
see Col. Yule's Marco Polo, ii, 138, etc.

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INTRODUCTION. XXV11

" As soon as the squadron arrived at the islands in the
neighbourhood of Canton, it was surrounded by Chinese
vessels, who came to reconnoitre it. Ferdinand And rada,
who commanded it, did not put himself in any posture of
defence, he suffered the Chinese to come on board, commu-
nicated the object of his voyage to the Mandarins that
presided at Canton, and sent his ambassador on shore, who
was conducted to Pekin.

" Whatever may have been the state of China when the
Portuguese landed there, as they had no other object in
view than to draw riches from thence and to propagate
their religion, had they found the best kind of government
established in this country, they would not have profited by
it. Thomas Perez, their Ambassador, found the Court of
Pekin disposed to favour his nation, the fame of which had
spread itself throughout Asia. It had already attracted the
esteem of the Chinese, which the conduct of Ferdinand
Andrada, who commanded the Portuguese squadron, tended
still further to increase. He visited all the coasts of China,
and traded with the natives. When he was on the point of
departure, he issued a proclamation in the ports he had
put into, that if any one had been injured by a Portuguese,
and would make it known, he should recover satisfaction.
The ports of China were now upon the point of being
opened to them. Thomas Perez was just about concluding
a Treaty, when Simon Andrada, brother to Ferdinand, ap-
peared on the coast with a fresh squadron. This commander
treated the Chinese in the same manner as the Portuguese
had for some time treated all the people of Asia. He built
a fort, without permission, on the island of Taman, from
whence he took opportunities of pillaging and extorting
money from all the ships bound from or to the ports of
China. Ho carried off young girls from the coast, ho
seized upon the Chinese, and made slaves of them ; he gave
himself up to the most licentious acts of piracy, and the
most shameful dissoluteness. The sailors and soldiers under
his command followed his example. The Chinese, enraged

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XXVIU INTRODUCTION.

at these outrages, fitted out a large fleet ; the Portuguese
defended themselves courageously, and escaped by making
their way through the enemy's fleet. The Emperor im-
prisoned Thomas Perez, who died in confinement, and the
Portuguese nation was banished from China for some years.
After this the Chinese relaxed, and gave permission to the
Portuguese to trade at the port of Sancian, to which place
they brought gold from Africa, spices from the Molucca
Islandp, aud from Ceylon elephants' teeth, and some pre-
cious stones. In return they took silks of every kind,
china, gums, medicinal herbs, and tea, which has since
become so necessary a commodity to the northern nations
of Europe.

u The Portuguese contented themselves with the huts and
factories they had at Sancian, and the liberty granted to
their trade by the Chinese Government, till an opportunity
offered of establishing themselves upon a footing more
solid and less dependant upon the Mandarins, who had the
command of the coast.

"A pirate named Tchang-si-lao, whose successes had
made him powerful, had seized upon the Island of Macao,
from whence he blocked up the ports of China, and even
proceeded so far as to lay siege to Canton. The neigh-
bouring Mandarins had recourse to the Portuguese, who
had ships in the harbour of Sancian ; they hastened to the
relief of Canton, raised the siege, and obtained a complete
victory over the pirate, whom they pursued as far as Macao,
where he slew himself.

"The Emperor of China, informed of the service the
Portuguese had rendered him on this occasion, bestowed
Macao upon them, as a mark of his gratitude. They re-
ceived this grant with joy, and built a town which became
very flourishing, and was advantageously situated for the
trade they soon after entered into with Japan.

"The author of Uldée OénéraU de la Chine, published
at Paris in 1780, adds to his account of this transaction
(which agrees with the above) that the behaviour of the

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INTRODUCTION. XXIX

Portuguese ambassador confirmed the Chinese in their aver-
sion to foreigners, 1 against whom they had always shot
their empire. And speaking of the Emperor's edict per-
mitting the Portuguese to settle at Macao, he says, ' but
the restrictions with which the Chinese accompanied this
favour, and the manner of forming the settlement, as well
as the shackles imposed on the liberty of the Portuguese,
give to Macao rather the appearance of a place besieged
than of a free commercial city V*

The Viceroy of Canton has just lately expressed
himself in cordial terms towards the Portuguese
nation, and expressed the necessity of drawing still
closer the relations between China and Portugal,
which was the first of the European nations to possess
commercial establishments in China.

The construction of a powerful, in fact to the Malays
an impregnable fortress in the heart of their capital
was a natural consequence of the Portuguese victory.
The bird's-eye view of this fortress, which has been re-
produced for this volume from Correa's invaluable
Lendas da India, and the plan of the same, also repro-
duced for this volume from the equally precious manu-
script of Pedro Barretto de Resende's Livro do Estado
da India Oriental (by kind permission of the trustees
of the British Museum), show sufficiently the imposing
nature of this stronghold. Next in importance to the

1 This author adds in a note — " Ammian Marcellin qui écrivoit
dans le quatrième siècle de notre ère, parle de cet éloignement
des Chinois pour les ét rangers."

2 Add. MS., 13,875, fo. 24 : " Report of Embassies to China,
presented to the British Museum by the Representatives of the
Marquess Wellesley."

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XXX INTRODUCTION.

fortress were reconstructive measures of the victors, as
for example the rearrangement of the currency upon a
more scientific basis, and the repression of sedition with
that iron hand, for which some historians and biogra-
phers have been so unnecessarily severe upon Afonso
Dalboquerque. Before we condemn this prominent
trait in the character of the Portuguese commander
we must take into consideration the somewhat un-
gentle spirit of the age in which he lived, the brutali-
ties practised by Asiatics upon such unfortunate
Europeans as fell into their hands, and the absolute
necessity that a comparatively small band of men were
under to repress unsparingly any and every measure
likely to injure their tenure of a territory so far from
the natural basis of their operations. Viewed in this
light, the execution of Utemutaraja, and the carry-
ing out of the sentence passed upon Ruy Diaz, were
measures calculated to procure the security of the
whole body, rather than instances of supreme gratifica-
tion of personal antipathy towards the sufferers.

The incidents of the dispatch of Duarte Fernandez
to the court of Siam with specific instructions — an
event which helped greatly to elevate the position of
Portuguese politics in the east of Asia — the subsequent
mission of Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo to the
same country, the interchange of presents and friendly
compliments, similar courtesies exchanged with the
kings of Campar and Java, and the sending forth of a
party to explore the Moluccas, then known as the
Clove Islands or Mace-apple (i.e., nutmeg) Islands,
combine to elevate in a considerable degree the career

^0*

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INTRODUCTION. XXXt

of Afonso Dalboquerque from that of a vulgar free-
booter or licensed adventurer (as some will have him
to be) to that of an earnest and scientific pioneer,
anxious that his nation, his own followers, and himself
also should —

"aiiv apiareveiv xal efo;£Oi> efifievat aXXwv."

After detailing the arrangement made by Afonso
Dalboquerque for the government of the newly-con-
quered territory, the author of the Commentaries in-
troduces an interesting Oration, delivered by the
illustrious Roman orator, Camillo Portio, before Pope
Leo X. This oration, although it introduces notices
of some events beyond the scope of the Commentaries,
is of value, as showing the way in which the Papal
court, and probably all Christendom, viewed with
admiration and emulation the marvellously rapid suc-
cesses which had fallen to the arms of Portugal in her
dealing with the infidel nations of the East.

The remaining portion of the present volume reverts
to India and Goa, and the events which had transpired
during the absence of Afonso Dalboquerque in the
Malay expedition. Milrrhau or Merlao, the duly ap-
pointed Governor of Goa, was conducting the affairs
of the city peaceably, when Pulatecão, in command of
a force mustered by the Hidalcão, came down from
the inland territory of that prince, and took up a strong
position in Benastarim, or Benestarij, 1 a fortress on

1 The variation in the orthography of this fortress is interesting,
and shows the peculiar proclivity of the Portuguese language for
a nasal sound at the termination of words. Many of the names of
persons and place3 which occur in the text of the Commentaries,

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XXX11 INTRODUCTION.

the mainland due west of the Island of Goa ; but in so
disposing his forces he appears to have exceeded the
instructions which he had received from the Hidalcão.
This prince therefore appointed Roçalcão, called by
some historians Rasul Khan, to supersede Pulatecão
(or Fulad Khan), and by means of the Portuguese
under Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos (who had been
liberated by the people to succeed Rodrigo Rabelo as
Captain of Goa, when that officer fell in a skirmish with
the Turks, in preference to Francisco Pantoja, to whom
the succession rightly belonged), Roçalcão got possession
of the fortress of Benestarim, and immediately discon-
certed the little garrison of Goa, by making a formal
demand for the surrender of the city.

While these events were transpiring, Afonso Dalbo-
querque had set sail from Malaca in the Flor de la
Mar, but suffered shipwreck off the dangerous coast of
Sumatra, and only reached Cochim with great difficulty
some time in the month of January 1512. This
disaster was felt all the more keenly by the Viceroy
because he afterwards learned that had he visited the
Maldive Islands, 1 according to his original intentions
during this voyage, he would have fallen in with
Mafamede Maçari, the merchant of Cairo — an enemy
with whom he was particularly anxious to measure

terminate in -ij, and it is probable that they were all pronounced
with a nasal sound at the end of the word. Hence we find Pan-
gim or Pangij, and Augim or Augij ; just as in the ordinary lan-
guage, assi, perú 9 mui, and other words have a nasal, not written,
but always pronounced at the end.

1 Pedro Barretto de Resende gives a plan of the Portuguese
fortress on one of these islands.

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INTRODUCTION. XXX 111

bis strength. This man was the chief upholder of the
policy of bringing over the Rumes to assist the Çamo-
rim in driving the Portuguese out of Malabar. He
however feared that Afonso Dalboquerque would get
him into his power, so he fled from Calicut (when the
break in the blockade happened by the recall of Manuel
de Lacerda to the assistance of Goa against Pulatecão)
towards the Straits, but was caught in a storm and
wrecked at the Cape of Guardafum, and thence made his
way, carrying with him Simão Rangel (who had been
captured on his voyage from Cochim to Goa) into
slavery to Candaluz, in the Maldives, where he imagined
himself safe, and out of the possibility of capture by the
Portuguese cruisers, who had hitherto kept to more
northerly latitudes.

The welcome arrival of the fleet with the great
commander on board gave the signal for heartfelt
rejoicing throughout the Portuguese settlements of
India, and from January to August 1512, Afonso Dal-
boquerque busied himself with the expedition of ne-
cessary business which had no doubt accumulated in
his absence during the past year. But fate had not
ceased to "weave the crimson web of war" for Afonso
Dalboquerque; the relief of Goa was the uppermost
feeling in his heart, and he hailed with the greatest
satisfaction and delight the arrival of two annual fleets
sent out from the mother kingdom in 1511 and 1512
respectively, for the reinforcement of the Indian colo-
nies. These fleets, the one commanded by Dom Garcia,
or Gracia, de Noronha, his nephew ; the other by Jorge
de Mello Pereira and Gracia de Sousa, added no less

VOL. III. /

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XXXIV INTRODUCTION.

than seventeen ships of war, with their men and stores,
to the sadly diminished number of serviceable vessels
and fighting men at the disposal of the Viceroy. But
the joy he experienced at receiving these welcome re-
inforcements was quickly dispelled by the orders sent
out to him from the king of Portugal for discussing
the question of retaining or abandoning the possession
of Goa.

Afonso Dalboquerque very prudently abstained
from mentioning this matter until he had re-established
the liberty of the city by the operations which led to
the recovery of the dominating fortress of Benastarim,
for he doubtless felt that had he divulged the king's
orders to his captains and officers before they had
driven the Turks into the interior, the movements in
aid of the besieged city and island would have been
carried out without heartiness and spirit, or perhaps
even neglected and refused. But when the fortress had
yielded to the Portuguese, the spirits of the populace
raised by the dispersion of the enemy, and the martial
feelings of the army elated by the easy victory, then
it was that the commander felt that a fitting oppor-
tunity at length had arrived when, although he could
no longer with propriety withhold the contents of the
Eoyal dispatch, the general consensus of opinion would
lean towards that course which he so ardently desired
to carry out.

The surrender of Benastarim was accomplished with
practically little trouble, for Roçalcâo seems to have
been, after all, but half-hearted in the task of its de-
fence. He appears, however, to have tried as far as

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INTRODUCTION. XXXV

he could to shield the Portuguese renegade deserters
from a fate which he probably knew only too well
would overtake them if they fell into the power of
their irate master ; but the excuse which he made, that
it was contrary to the law of his country and the princi-
ples of his religion 1 to give them up, availed nothing
with Afonso Dalboquerque, whose ferocity (parti-
cularly if all that Castanheda and Corrêa state be
true) towards the ill-fated wretches can hardly be
paralleled with any other relation out of the whole
range of history.

The settlement of Fernão Lopez, the ringleader of
these renegades, upon the uninhabited Island of Saint
Helena, is of great interest to the political geographer.
Corrêa, whose phrases seem to indicate that he com-
miserated the unfortunate man, says of him : " Fernão
Lopez 8 managed to get on board a Portuguese vessel
homeward bound, for he had left his wife and children
in Lisbon, but the ship stopped at the Island of St.
Helena to take in water, and there this Fernão Lopez
remained in hiding, and when he was found missing
out of the ship the crew set out and searched for him,
but they could not find him, so they left him a barrel
of biscuit and some pieces of hung beef, and dried
fish, and salt, and a fire and some old clothes, which

1 See MS., Sloan. 1820, a closely written folio work, seventeenth
or eighteenth century, in Portuguese, apparently unpublished,
entitled "A Seita dos índios Orientais, e principalmente dos Mala-
bares", in eight books, treating of the history and mythology of the
religious sects, manners, and customs, of the people inhabiting
Malabar.

* See the extract on pp. 2-40-242 for the Portuguese text

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XXXVI INTRODUCTION.

each one contributed ; and when the vessel set sail,
they left a letter for him, that in case of any ship
putting in there he was to make signs to show whether
he were alive or dead, and shew himself in order that
they might supply him with whatever he required.
Then the vessel set sail, and Fernão Lopez, seeing the
ship had left, went out of the wood and took posses-
sion of the things which he found left for him, and
kept up the fire so that it should not go out, and set
to work to find stones which he beat one against
another, and he saw that they struck fire and he kept
them. Thus, with the four fingers of his left hand,
and with the stump of his right hand which had been
cut off, as God helped him in his great mercy, he dug a
hollow in a bank wherein he made a small grotto, and
enlarged it within, where he lived in retreat and
used to sleep, and he filled up the mouth of the grotto
with prickly bushes. He found tender herbs which
were savoury to eat, and he boiled them with salt in
two saucepans which they had left for him. And
while he was living in this way during the next year a
ship touched at the island, and when he saw the ship
he hid himself.

" The crew of the ship, going on shore, when they
saw the grotto and a straw bed whereon he slept, and
the bags, and the staves of the barrel which had been
left with biscuit for him, and the saucepans, and coals
for the fire, were amazed, for they thought that some
negroes were living there in hiding from another ship,
but when they beheld the clothing they agreed that it
was a Portuguese man. So they took in their water,

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INTRODUCTION. XXXVll

and did not meddle with anything, but, on the con-
trary, left him biscuits, and cheeses, and things to eat,
and a letter bidding him not to hide himself, but when
any ship should touch there he should speak with it,
for no one would harm him. And the ship "set sail,
and, in spreading her sails, there fell overboard a cock,
which the waves carried to the shore, and Fernão
Lopez caught it and fed it upon some rice which they
had left behind for him, so that the cock became on
such loving terms with him that it followed him
wherever he went, and at night it roosted with him in
the hole. This cock remained with this man for many
years, it would come at his call, for, as time went on,
this man used to show himself and converse with the
people of the ships which passed by, and all gave him
things to plant and to sow, so that he cultivated a
great many gourds, pomegranates, and palm trees, and
kept ducks, hens, sows, and she-goats with young, all
of which increased largely, and all became wild in the
wood.

" This man lived for many years alone in this island,
leading this remarkable life, and when it was related
to the king he was very desirous of seeing him, for
they said that he was like a wild man ; therefore, the
king sent word to beg him of his own accord to come
to Portugal. This he did, and he went and secretly
disembarked in the house of the captain of the ship,
and thence went by night to converse with the king
and the queen, who gave him a hermitage and houses
of friars wherein he might remain; but he would
accept nought of this, but obtained permission of the

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XXXV111 INTRODUCTION.

king and went to Rome, and confessed himself to the
Pope, who was pleased to see him, and gave him
letters to the king that he would send him back again
to the island. This likewise the king performed. This
man stayed on this island for upwards of ten years
without any one ever seeing him, for he used to hide
himself.

" In this island there lived a fugitive Javanese youth,
who also stayed with him many years. This youth
was the one who revealed him to a ship which touched
there. For the captain, Pero Gomez Teixeira, who
had been Auditor-General in India, threatened the
black man so much that he went and pointed out the
place where Fernão Lopez was hidden. And when he
found that he was taken he made loud outcries, think-
ing that they were going to take him on board. But
Pero Gomez consoled him, and talked for a long time
with him, and assured him that he would not carry
him away, and gave him many things, although he
did not care for them, but very earnestly besought
him to take the youth with him in the ship. Pero
Gomez, therefore, took him on receiving a promise
from Fernão Lopez that he would not hide himself
from the crews. And when this had been agreed to,
Pero Gomez left with him a paper, signed and sealed,
wherein he desired all captains who might touch there
of their kindness not to use any force in desiring to
carry him to Portugal against his will, for it was
from fear of this that Fernão Lopez used in by-gone
times to hide himself. Therefore, he gave him a safe-
guard in the king's name, and swore to it, that no one

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INTRODUCTION. XXXIX

should carry him away from the island against his
will. And then Fernão Lopez felt assured, so that he
used no longer to hide himself, and spoke with all
comers, and gave them of the produce of the island,
which yielded in great abundance. And in the island
he died, after living there for a long time, which was
in the year 1546."

The blockade of Calicut, which was commenced
anew by D. Garcia de Noronha ; the mission of Diogo
Fernandez, Adail of Goa, with the returning ambas-
sador of the Hidalcão, to arrange the terms of peace ;
the dispatch of the Cambayan ambassador, in whose
company Tristão Déga went to demand leave to erect a
fortress in Diu; the dispatch of a messenger from
Miliquiaz of Dili ; the mission of Gaspar Chanoca to
Narsinga; the reception of an ambassador with pre-
sents from the king of Vengapor, an inland territory
bordering on the kingdom of the Zabaim ; an interview
of a fruitless nature with Roçalcão ; and other similar
business, naturally occupied Afonso Dalboquerque for
some time after his return to Goa. But an event oc-
curred about this period to which he devoted consider-
able interest, and attached great importance. This
was the arrival of an envoy, named Mateus or Mat-
thew, the brother of the Patriarch of Abyssinia, from
the little known and mysterious kingdom of Prester
John, with a present of a piece of the Wood of the
True Cross from the Warden of the Franciscan Friars
of Mount Sion, Jerusalem, to the king of Portugal,
and an offer of alliance by marriage of the children

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Xl INTRODUCTION.

of the Prester John with the Royal Princes of the
kingdom.

Afonso Dalboquerque forwarded this ambassador
and his sacred present with great éclat to the king of
Portugal, but in the eyes of many of the Portuguese
Mateus was looked upon as an impostor whom the
Viceroy favoured for his own glorification. The king
treated him with honour, and sent him back in 1520
with D. Rodrigo de Lima, a Portuguese ambassador,
but Mateus died on the way at Bisam, 1 on the 23rd of
May, 1520, and D. Rodrigo prosecuted his journey, a
relation of which, 2 by Father Francisco Alvarez, trans-
lated from the Portuguese and edited by the accom-
plished Portuguese scholar Lord Stanley of Alderley,
is now being published by the Hakluyt Society. Stu-
dents of Portuguese history, who are already under a
debt of gratitude to the noble translator of Vasco da

1 According to the work mentioned in the next note ; but from
the Commentaries, p. 254, he appears to have died at Maçua, or
Massowah, an important city on the African side of the Red Sea ;
cf.

" e as melhores

Povoações que a parte Africa tern,

Maçua sao, Arquico, e Suanquem." — Cam. Lus., x, 97.

Mateus, the ambassador, appears to have been of an irritable dis-
position, and this was perhaps the cause of the dislike shewn to
him by the Portuguese with whom he came into contact.

2 The title of this rare book, a fine specimen of early Portuguese
typography, is : " Ho Preste Joam das índias. Verdadera infor-
maçam das terras do Preste Joam, segundo vio e escreveo ho
padre Francisco Aluarez Capellã del Rey nosso senhor. Agora
nouamête impresso por mandado do dito senhor em casa de Luis
Rodriguez liureiro de sua alteza." The colophon states that the
book was printed in 1540.

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INTRODUCTION. xli

Gama from Correa's Lendas da India, will look for-
ward to the appearance of this narrative of the Por-
tuguese embassy to Abyssinia in 1520 with the greatest
interest.

After making disposition for the projected fortress
in Calicut, if the Çamorim should really grant the site
— a fact which Afonso Dalboquerque seems to have
despaired of at last — an assembly of the principal
Portuguese personages was held, and the King's articles
read. The debate which ensued resulted in the deter-
mination to hold Goa at all hazard ; and the letter
which Afonso Dalboquerque addressed to the King, a
characteristic specimen of the fearlessness of the great
commander, 1 concludes this volume.

The portrait of Dom Vasco da Gama, which is placed
as a frontispiece to this volume, and that of Diogo
Lopez de Sequeira, which is set to face page 254, are
derived from the MS. of Pedro Barretto de Resende, in
the Sloane Library of MSS. at the British Museum.
They have been reproduced by the autotype process,
with permission of the Trustees of the British Museum,
to whom the thanks of the Hakluyt Society are due
for this favour.

The interesting plan of Malaca fortress and settle-
ment comes from the same MS. The map of the

1 The phrase, "e não me tome cada anno conta do que faço como
a Almoxarife", in Afonso Dalboquerque's letter, seems clearly to
point to a certain necessity on the part of those who have had to
govern India for occasional use of large suras of money for secret
political objects. The history of Warren Hastings and Lord Clive
in later centuries afford examples of the disasters attendant upon
this necessity.

vol. in. g

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xlli INTRODUCTION.

Malay peninsula has been reproduced in a reduced form
with great care from a chart contained in a most valu-
able Portolano executed by the Portuguese hydrogra-
pher, Diego Homem, in 1558. This MS. is preserved
among the additional MSS. in the British Museum.
(Add. MSS., 5415 a.) For the permission to trace
these, I desire to record my thanks to Mr. E. M.
Thompson, F.S.À., keeper of the manuscripts in the
British Museum. The bird's-eye view of Malaca has
been reduced by photo-lithography from the frequently
cited Lendas da India, a work of very great value
for collation with other historical narratives of the
Early History of Portuguese India.

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CHRONOLOGY OF PART III.

H.S1 À.D.

1. Afonso Dalboquerque assaults Goa . 25 Nov. 1510

1. [Sails for the Straits Feb. 1511]

207. [Dom Garcia de Noronha sails with six ships

from Portugal 25 March and 8 April 1511]

101. Afonso Dalboquerque assaults Malaca on St.

James's Day [25 July 1511]

207. [Builds the fortress of Malaca . . August 1511]

164. Antonio Dabreu sails to explore the Moluccas

During November [1511]

195. [Afonso Dalboquerque, shipwrecked on the voy-
age from Malaca to India, reaches Cochim

During January 1512]

195. [Dom Garcia de Noronha reaches Moçambique

Beginning of February 1512]

208. [Jorge de Mello Pereira sails with twelve ships

from Portugal 25 March 1512]

208. [João Chanoca sails for Portugal 13 July 1512]

207. Arrival of the Fleets of D. Garcia D. Noronha,

and Jorge de Mello at Cochim - 20 Aug. 1512

210. Afonso Dalboquerque sails from Cochim for Goa

10 Sept. 1512

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xliv CHRONOLOGY OF PART III.

208. [The Fortress of Calicut built by the Portuguese

During the Year 1512]

255. Dom Garcia de Noronha blockades Calicut

During Jan. [1513]

256. But rejoins Afonso Dalboquerque at Goa 10 Feb. [1513]
172. Oration of Camillo Portio before Leo X During Oct. 1513

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COMMENTARIES

GREAT AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE.

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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 III.

LISBON :
IN THE ROYAL PRINTING OFFICE,

ANNO MDCCLXXIV;

With Licence of the Royal Board of Censors, and Royal Privilege,

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TITLES

CHAPTERS CONTAINED IN THIS THIRD PART.

WHEREIN IS CONTAINED AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT THE GREAT APONSO
DALBOQUERQUE PERFORMED IN THE CONQUEST OF THE KING-
DOM OF OOA FOR THE SECOND TIME, AND OF THE KING-
DOM OF MALACA : AND ALL THE REST THAT HE DID
UNTIL HIS DEPARTURE TO THE STRAITS.

CHAPTER I.

How, after his fleet was ready, he set out for the harbour of
Canandr: and what passed with the King of Garçopa and
Timoja concerning the entry of the river of Goa .

CHAPTER II.

Of the council which the great Afonso Dalboquerque held with
the captains concerning the attacking of the city, and the
remainder of the events connected therewith

CHAPTER III.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque attacked the city of Goa, and
took it by force of arms, when some of our side were killed ;
and of the great havoc that was made of the Moors

CHAPTER IV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque gave the soldiers permission
to sack the city : and, of the crucifix which was found in
some old walls from which stone was taken for the fortress :
and of the miracle which Our Lord performed for our side
on the day of the battle ....

VOL. ill. h

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1 TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS

CHAPTER V.

How the Nequibares sent to request a safe conduct from Afonso
Dalboquerque, in order that they might come and live at Goa;
and how our forces put to rout Meliqueaye, the captain of
theHidalcSo . . .21

CHAPTER VI.

How Merlao came to Goa, and the Nequibares desired Afonso
Dalboquerque to give him to them for their governor, and
what took place thereupon ; and how he ordered Diogo Fer-
nandez de Beja to destroy the fortress of Çacotorâ . . 25

CHAPTER VII.

Of the ambassadors whom the Çainorim, after the fall of Goa,
sent to the great Afonso Dalboquerque, desiring peace with
him ; and how Sim So Rangel was sent upon this business,
and what passed concerning it . . .30

CHAPTER VIII.

How the King of Narsinga sent his ambassadors to visit Afonso
Dalboquerque concerning the capture of Goa; and of the
news which Fr. Luiz communicated to him, and what passed
• thereafter . . .35

CHAPTER IX.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set in order certain matters
in the city, and established a Mint there, and of what
followed .39

CHAPTER X.

Of the proceedings of the Bendara, Governor of Malaca, when he
heard that Goa had been taken, and of the news which lluy
de Araújo, who was in captivity there, wrote to the great
Afonso Dalboquerque . .44

CHAPTER XI.

How the Captains of the Fleet of Diogo Mendez requested him
to set out for Malaca ; and of what passed with them, and
how he begged Afonso Dalboquerque to grant him permission
to go ; and of the reasons wherefore it was not granted . 48

CHAPTER XII.

How Diogo Mendez, by the advice of his captains, hoisted sail to
pass over the bar, and the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent
after him, and they made him turn back,' and the rest which
took place . . « .51

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CONTAINED IN THIS THIRD PART. li

CHAPTER XIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set Bail for the Straits of
Meca with his fleet, and finding he could not cross the shoals
of Padua, stood off Goa and made his way direct to Malaca . 55

CHAPTER XIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail from Cochim, and

made his way direct to Malaca, and of what passed thereupon 57

CHAPTER xv.
How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail from the port of Pace,
and at sea he sighted a sailing vessel which was carrying
the Moor who was flying from him, and how he sent after
the vessel, and what further took place . .60

CHAPTER XVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque reached the port of Malaca,
and the king sent immediately to visit him, and the rest
that took place . . .66

CHAPTER XVII.

Of the site and foundation of the kingdom and city of Malaca . 71

CHAPTER XVIII.

Of the customs and government of the city of Malaca . 84

CHAPTER XIX.

Of the message which the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent to the
king of Malaca, and of the council which he held with his
captains concerning the letter which Ruy de Araújo sent him 90

CHAPTER xx.
Of the requisition which the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered
to be made to the king, signed by himself and all the cap-
tains ; and how the king sent him Ruy de Araújo and his
companions whom he had there . . .93

CHAPTER xxi.
How the Chinese merchants, who were at Malaca, made their
way to the great Afonso Dalboquerque ; and of what passed
with him ; and of the council which he held with the Cap-
tains, Fidalgos, and Cavaliers of the Fleet to attack the city . 97

CHAPTER XXII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, on the morning of St.
James's day, attacked the city of Malaca, and what passed
thereupon . . 101

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Hi TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS

CHAPTER XXIII.

How TuSo Bandão, captain of the king of Malaca, perceiving the
dispersion of the Moors, went to their assistance with a body
of soldiers, and what passed thereupon; and how the king
took to flight, and our men pursued him . . . 105

CHAPTER XXIV.

How the king of Malaca, after the Portuguese had withdrawn to
their ships, began to reconstruct the stockades and fortified his
position on the bridge ; and of the message which Utemuta-
raja sent to the great Afonso Dolboquerque .108

CHAPTER XXV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque prepared himself for renew-
ing the attack upon the stockades which the king had set upon
the bridge : and how the Chinese desired of him permission
to return to their land : and of the ambassador whom he sent
with them to the king of Sião . .111

CHAPTER XXVI.

The speech which the great Afonso Dalboquerque made to the
Captains and men of the Fleet for the second attack upon the
city, and what passed thereupon .114

CHAPTER XXVII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque again attacked the city
according to the resolution which had been arrived at, and
how he entered the bridge by force of arms and fortified him-
self on it . . .120

CHAPTER XXVIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered relief to be given
to our men who were stationed at the mouth of the street
which led to the bridge : and how Utemutaraja and Nina-
chatu, and other merchants, seeing the overthrow of the city,
came and placed themselves in his hands . . .124

CHAPTER XXIX.

Of how, after the Prince of Malaca had withdrawn from his
father, he came to the river of Muar and fortified himself
therein with a number of stockades, and the great Afonso
Dalboquerque sent a force against him, and put him to flight 128

CHAPTER XXX.

How the King of Malaca, after the Portuguese had gained the city
from him, withdrew to the kingdom of Pão, and dispatched an
Ambassador to the King of China, begging for succour 131

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CONTAINED IN THIS THIRD PART. lift

CHAPTER XXXI.

How the King of Malaca, having arrived at the kingdom of Pfio,
died ; and how the great Afonso Dalboqnerqne began to build
the fortress ; and the inscription which he placed over the gate
after it was finished, and what passed hereupon . 134

CHAPTER XXXII.

IIow the great Afonso Dalboquerque, at the request of the Gover-
nors and people of the city, ordered money to be coined;
and of the value thereof, and of the rest that was done there-
upon ...... 187

CHAPTER XXXIII.

How the merchants and all the noble Moors of the city com-
plained to the great Afonso Dalboquerque of the tyrannies
which Utemutaraja exercised in the land, and how he had in
his power all the supplies, and of many other things which
hedid .148

CHAPTER XXXIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, on account of the corrobo-
ration which he received concerning the treason which Ute-
mutaraja was planning against him, determined to seize him,
and his son, and his son-in-law ; and the rest that took place,
and what passed with the wife of Utemutaraja 147

CHAPTER XXXV.

How Duarte Fernandez, and the Chinese, whom he carried in his
company, reached the city of Udiá, where the King of Sião
lived, and gave him the message which he carried from the
great Afonso Dalboquerque; and of the ambassador whom
the King of Sito sent to him .152

CHAPTER XXXVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched the ambassador of
the King of Sião, and in company with him sent Antonio de
Miranda de Azevedo with instructions how to act, and of the
present which was sent through him . 166

. CHAPTER XXXVIL

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched the ambassadors
of the Kings of Campar and Java, and ordered the explora-
tion of the Island of Maluco - * . .159

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liv TITLES OF THE CHAPTERS

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Of the Council which the great Afonso Dalboquerque held with
the Captains respecting the order in which he should leave the
management of affairs at Malaca, and some ordinances which
he made for the government of the country before his de-
parture for India . . . .165

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Oration which Oamillo Portio made to the Pope Leo the Tenth in
praise of the capture of Malaca, and of the victories gaiued
by the Portuguese in their conquest of India . .169

CHAPTER XL.

The proceedings of the Portuguese in Goa with the Captains of
the Hidalcao, who came and besieged the city after the de-
parture of the great Afonso Dalboquerque for Malaca 187

CHAPTER XLI.

How the Hidalcão, on learning that his Captain had made an
entry into the Island of Goa and taken Benastarim without
permission, ordered Roçalcào to take it from him, and what
passed thereupon . . 1 90

CHAPTER XLII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, having set sail from Malaca,
steered for the channel by which he had entered when he
came from India: and how he was wrecked on some shal-
lows off the Coast of Çamatra, and miraculously saved, and
the rest that took place .... 193

CHAPTER XLIII.

Of what was lost in the ship Flor de la Mar: and how the Great
Afonso Dalboquerque, after having collected his people to-
gether on the ship Trindade, proceeded on his route to Ceilão:
and of what took place on the voyage until they arrived at
Cochim . . . . .198

CHAPTER XLIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque reached Cochim ; and of the
news which they gave him concerning Goa, and of the coming
of the Rumes, and of the fleet which arrived from Portugal . 204

CHAPTER XLV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set out from Cochim with
the intention of going in search of the Rumes ; and how he
proceeded to besiege the fortress of Benastarim 210

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CONTAINED IN THIS THIRD PART. lv

CHAPTER XLVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered the stockade, where-
with the Turks had surrounded the fortress in order that our
ships should not go inside, to be pulled Up ; and how he went
to the city after having put them inside, and what further
took place ...... 214

CHAPTER XLVII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque arrived at the city [of Goa],
and of the great reception with which the inhabitants met
him, and of the rest which passed with the Turks . 220

CHAPTER XLVIII.

How BocalcSo was put to flight, and the great Afonso Dalbo-
querque followed in pursuit after him up to the very walls of
the fortress of Benesterij, and of what further took place 225

CHAPTER XLIX.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque rallied his people, and went
back to the city; and how he returned again with all his
battle array to besiege the fortress, and of what passed with
Kocalcao . . .229

CHAPTER L.

Of how the great Afonso Dalboquerque debated with the Cap-
tains and Fidalgoes who were there the terms offered by
Roçalcão ; and of the agreement which was made ; and how
he set out for Goa ..... 234

CHAPTER lã.

How our men entered the fortress, and wanted to pillage the
Turks, if the great Afonso Dalboquerque had not prevented
them ; and what passed with the renegades, and how he set
forth towards Goa ..... 236

CHAPTER LII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent D. Garcia de Noronha,
his nephew, with a fleet against Calicut; and how he dis-
patched the ambassadors who were waiting for him at Goa,
and the rest which took place . . - . 243

CHAPTER LIII.

How an ambassador from King Vengapor arrived at Goa, and how
the great Dalboquerque bore himself with Roçalcão, and what
passed with them ..... 246

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lvi TITLES OP CHAPTERS.

CHAPTER LIT.

Of the arrival of the embassy of the Prestes João at Goa, and of
the manner in which he was received; and how the great
Afonso Dalboquerque sent him to Portugal, and the rest which
took place ...... 250

CHAPTER LV.

Of the arrival of D. Garcia de Noronha at Cochim; and how, after
settling the order in which the vessels were to be arranged,
and dispatching the ships which were to sail to Portugal
during that year with their ladings, he set sail for Calient
with all his fleet, and what took place there . 255

CHAPTER LVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque gave an account to the cap*
tains and officers of the king concerning the letter which the
King had written to him respecting the surrender of Goa to
the Hidalcão, and what was agreed to in this behalf . 257

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IEGO HOMEM. A.O. 1558.

GtQuMBiSiWioii.irc.

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PART III.

WHEREIN IS CONTAINED AN ACCOUNT OP WHAT THE GREAT AFONSO
DALBOQUERQUE PERFORMED IN THE CONQUEST OF THE KINO-
DOM OF GOA FOR THE SECOND TIME, AND OF THE KING-
DOM OF MALACA : AND ALL THE REST THAT HE DID
UNTIL HIS DEPARTURE TO THE STRAITS.

CHAPTER I.

How, after bis fleet was ready, he set out for the harbour of Cananor :
and what passed with the King of Garcopa and Timoja concerning
the entry of the river of Goa.

When the interviews were concluded, which the great
Afonso Dalboquerque held in Cochim with Gonçalo de
Sequeira and the other captains, he set out towards Cana-
nor, where he found ready the fleet and all the things
which he required for his voyage. And without making any
delay, he set sail with a fleet of twenty-three vessels, con-
taining about two thousand Portuguese : and of them there
were the Captains Manuel de Lacerda; Fernão Perez Dan-
drade ; Simão Dandrade, his brother ; Bastião de Miranda ;
Afonso Pessoa; Ruy de Brito Patalim; Diogo Fernandez
de Beja ; Jorge Nunez de Lião ; Francisco Pereira Pestana ;
D. João de Lima; D. Jeronymo de Lima, his brother;
Manuel da Cunha ; Duarte de Melo ; Pêro Dafonseca ;
Gaspar de Paiva; Simão Martinez; Francisco Pantoja; An-
tonio de Matos ; and Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos, who
was going to Malaca; Dinis Cerniche, Balthezar da Silva, and

VOL. III. B

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2 COMMENTARIES OF

Pero Coresma, who were to accompany [Diogo Meu dez de
Vasconcelos]. And so the whole fleet went along the coast and
stood over against Onor to take in fresh supplies and water. 1
As soon as the King of Garçopa and Timoja were in-
formed of the arrival of Afonso Dalboquerque at the port,
they went to talk with him, and after the customary greet-
ings were over, he asked them what news they had of Goa

1 It is useful to compare with this list that of Gaspar Corroa, who
gives the following names of captains accompanying Afonso Dalboquer-
que against Goa : —

*Joam de Lima.

Jeronymo de Lima, his brother.

Manuel de Lacerda.

Fernam Peres d'Andrade.

Simão d'Andrade, his brother.

Diogo Fernandes de Beja.
♦Manuel da Cunha.

Duarte de Mello.

Francisco de Távora.

Vasco Fernandes Coutinho.
•Garcia de Sousa.

Gaspar Cão.

Lopo Vaz de Sampayo.

Ayres da Silva.

Dinis Fernandes de Mello.

Joam Serrano.

Diogo Mendes de Vasconcel-
los.

Pero Coresma.

Baltesar da Silva.

Micer Vinete Cerniche [called
Dinis Cerniche in the Commen-
taries].

Antonio Raposo.
♦Simão Martins.

Gaspar de Paiva.

Francisco Pantoja.
♦Bastiam de Miranda d'Azevedo.

Afonso Pessoa.

Jorge Martins de Lião [called
Jorge Nunez de Lião in the
Commentaries],

in twenty-eight ships, and 1,700 Portuguese. The names marked with
asterisks are among those who gave an opinion at the council of war
just before. Corrêa also mentions the following as being with Afonso
Dalboquerque in the attack on Goa : —

Fernam Gomes de Lemos.

Nuno Vaz de Castello Branco.
♦Jorge da Silveira.

Ruy de Brito.

Luís Coutinho, brother of Vasco
Fernandez.

Simão d* Andrade, brother of Fer-
nam Perez.

Gonzalo d' Almeida.

Simão Martins Henriquez.
Payo Rodriguez de Sousa.
Diogo Pirez de Miranda.
Duarte de Mello.
Álvaro Pecanha.
Luis Preto.
Pero Dafonsequa.
Antonio de Matos.
Antonio Diniz, and others.

Lord Stanley's First Voyage of Magellan, pp. xxiii, xxiv.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 3

and of the Hidalcao f They told him that there were in
Goa three captains, who had about four thousand men in
the garrison, all Turks, Rumes, and Coraçones, 1 with cer-
tain peons of Balagate, who were archers ; and there were
about an equal number of native Moors. And they declared
that, if he had come with the intention of attacking the city,
it was just at the very nick of time, for the Hidalcâo was
prosecuting a war with the Guazils of the Kingdom of
Decan, who had wrested from him a great part of his lands,
and he was now so far advanced into the interior of the
country, that it was impossible for him to return and relieve
Goa. They said, too, that they were ready with all their
people, as they had already notified to him, to serve him by
land in that expedition.

Afonso Dalboquerque received the promises they made,
and thanked them heartily for them. But, although it seemed
to him to be a doubtful thing to attack Goa, held as it was
by so many forces and now become so much on the alert,
as these persons had declared to him, nevertheless he made
up his mind to blockade it with all his forces, and to attack
the enemy ; and with this determination he set sail with the
whole of his fleet, and bore up for Anjadiva, where he re-
mained for eleven days without forming any resolutions of
future proceedings. For when he arrived there, he was
advised not to place any reliance upon the promised offers
of the King of Garçopa and of Timoja, because they were in
fear lest things should not turn out well for them, and they
did not wish to be in worse relations to the Hidalcáo than
they were already. And thus the great Afonso Dalboquer-
que, perplexed by all these doubts which were conveyed to
him, set out from Anjadiva, and proceeded to cast anchor over
against the bar of Goa, and ordered Manuel da Cunha, with
six ships, to enter through Old Goa, and make his way to
Agacij, and to the land of Saste, to co-operate with the army
1 Inhabitants of the Khorassan.

b 2

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4 COMMENTARIES OF

of Timoja, who would have to approach by that direction.
And Manuel da Cunha, as soon as he reached the pass of
Benastarim and of Agacij, fired a gun and remained quietly
in the river waiting for the army to arrive.

No sooner had Manuel da Cunha set forth, than Afonso
Dalboqaerque summoned the captains to his ship, and told
them they were well aware of the promises made to them
by the King of Garçopa and Timoja, but that he himself,
from what he had heard in Anjadiva, and also because they
had delayed in their journey, very much doubted if these
people meant to keep their word. He therefore begged
them to decide whether he should undertake this matter
without counting very much on the support of the native
army which had been offered, or whether they should first
go to Cambaya and there settle the terms of peace. The
captains listened to the arguments of Afonso Dalboquerque,
and were all unanimously of opinion that he ought to attack
Goa; for if that city were once taken, the King of Cambaya
would consent, they said, to carry out all the conditions
they might require of him ; and what was more, he would
not delay releasing the captives whom he had in his power.
This advice appeared good to Afonso Dalboquerque, who
sent immediately a message to Manuel da Cunha to return
and rejoin the fleet. And, as soon as he arrived, all weighed
anchor, and stood in up the river and reached a pass about
as far from the city as a falconet would carry a shot, where
the Turks had sunk three Malabar ships laden with stones,
in order to impede any further passage of our vessels up
the river. But this artifice, which the Turks thought to
avail themselves of, turned out exactly the opposite of what
they intended ; for, instead of blocking the river, the force
of the water that ran down was so great, that it opened two
channels much deeper than the one which they had blocked
up.

When Afonso Dalboquerque arrived at this spot, ho

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUB. 5

ordered the small vessels to go up through these new chan-
nels which the river had made, and told the captains to
strain every nerve to reach the fortress as quickly as they
could ; and, as it was now late, there was not time for great
vessels to make the passage. But, as soon as morning
broke, Afonso Dalboquerque got into a boat, and proceeded
to the station where the small vessels were at anchor, with
all the rest of the fleet which followed him, and there he
settled himself, and sent Duarte de Lemos, Gaspar de Paiva,
and Diogo Fernandez de Beja, to man their skiffs and re-
connoitre the condition of the fortress. These three got up
in front of it, and examined it very closely, and reported to
Afonso Dalboquerque that it was very strong, fortified with
many trenches and bulwarks, and embrasures flush with the
water, 1 with much artillery therein, and a very large ditch.
So Afonso Dalboquerque, on receipt of this intelligence
which the captains reported, and on consideration of the
number of the forces within the city, came to the conclusion
that it was a very perilous undertaking to attack it ; yet,
nevertheless, confiding in God to help him, he sent on in
advance Bastião de Miranda, Afonso Pessoa, and Buy de
Brito Patalim, to make their way with their galleys to the
other side of the fortress ; and as they were perceived they
were plied with the artillery contained in it, but our Lord
protected them, so that they sustained no injury. And,
although all these things rendered the business of attacking
the city more hazardous, yet, in order to be more completely
informed on all points, he ordered Diogo Fernandez de Beja
to seize by night upon some native interpreter; and by
means of a Moor who was thus taken, he learned that the
Turks had a great quantity of artillery both large and small,
and many foot soldiers and cavalry, and many stores ; and
that Moors, the natives of the land, had promised the Hid-
alc&o that they would all die in defending the city from the
1 Ao lume da agua, " between wind and water".

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6 COMMENTARIES OF

entry of the Portuguese ; and that the Turks, in addition
to this promise which they had made, out of fear that if
any troubles came upon them the Moors would rise up
against them, had given orders that all the women and
children of the principal persons of the land should be
placed in the fortress.

CHAPTER II.

Of the council which the great Afonso Dalboquerque held with the
captains concerning the attacking of the city, and the remainder
of the events connected therewith.

For three days after the great Afonso Dalboquerque had
acquired this information concerning the ready state of the
city he remained without coming to any determination
whether he should wait or not for the King of Garçopa
and Timoja, from whom the only help he expected was
that they would come and stir up the Hindoos against
the Moors, and prevent their furnishing the latter with
supplies or paying the duties for the land which they were
bound to pay. And at this juncture, while he was thus
delaying himself, without making up his mind what to do,
the Turks made some very strong stockades of timber,
filled in with earth, with their ditches full of water, along
the banks, and in these they stationed many pieces of large
artillery, and appointed a captain with his men to defend
them.

But when Afonso Dalboquerque perceived that the Turks,
out of the excessive confidence they had in their fortress,
were constructing stockades outside to ward off the attack
upon their ships, and prevent their being burned, and were
quite certain of the safety of everything else, he summoned
the captains and all the Fidalgos and cavaliers of the fleet,
and laid before them the opinion he had of these doings of

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AFONSO DÀLBOQUERQUE. 7

the Turks, and desired it to be debated whether they should
first of all attack the stockades, or set themselves forthwith
in battle array and storm the fortress. And when this had
been discussed, at length every one agreed that the fortress
should be attacked before the stockades ; because, although
it might be the stronger, it was there that they all desired
to accomplish the wishes they had of taking vengeance of
what had already befallen them. For after they had once
taken the fortress, there was nothing more for them to do.

But Afonso Dalboquerque and Diogo Mendez de Vascon-
celos were not with them in this way of thinking, but
rather considered that they should first destroy the stock-
ades, and when these were overcome, they would get in [to
the fortress] with the enemy pell-mell ; and that this ought
to be put into practice immediately, because all the rest of
the time they spent there without doing anything was but
weakening more and more their chances of succeeding in
this matter; and in this opinion of Afonso Dalboquerque
everyone concurred, but they agreed to wait three days
longer for the King of Garçopa. For Afonso Dalboquer-
que told them that as they were clearly minded to attack
the city, they had no time now to look for any other help
beyond that of our Lord Jesus Christ, which would not fail
them, seeing that they fought for his Holy Faith, which he
for his part truly believed in ; and that the detention of the
King of Garçopa and Timoja had all been brought about by
the Turks by the great force of bribes which they had given
them not to come; and that Timoja was so artful that he was
sure to keep up his dissembling and not arrive until after
the fall of the city, for he saw very well that it was like to
cost much blood in the taking ; and therefore they ought
not to lose time in waiting for his support.

And with this settlement of the matter he dismissed the
captains to their ships to make ready for the next day, in
the morning, when all were to proceed to attack the stock-

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8 COMMENTARIES OF

ados, and when they were once captured, the circumstances
of the victory would point out how they should proceed. So
he divided all his forces into three companies in order of
battle ; that is to say, Manuel da Cunha, Manuel de
Lacerda, D. João de Lima, D. Jeronymo de Lima, his
brother, Gaspar Paiva, Gaspar Cão, Fernão Peyo, Pêro
Dafonseca, and many others, into one company, which was
to go and attack the stockades near the fortress. And in
the second company he set Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos,
Baltezar da Silva, Dinis Cerniche, Pero Goresma, who
carried with him his son Jorge Coresma (who is now super-
intendent of the royal ovens), who, though he was but a
child, gave a very good account of himself that day ; and
Ruy de Brito Patalim, and Jorge Nunez de Lião, with many
other soldiers, to attack the stockades on the sides near the
ships ; while he himself, with the remainder of the forces
and captains, would go and take the stockades in flank by
a road which led from Mandovij by a branch upwards which
he knew of, for if he went there he would be placed be-
tween the Moors and the city, and if he took their stock-
ades in flank they could not fail to make great havoc
among them.

And because there were in that road, which Afonso Dal-
boquerque determined to explore, certain palisadings of
very strong timber, in order not to be delayed by anything
when he should get there, he ordered Dinis Fernandez, the
master of his ship, to go in advance in charge of thirty
mariners to cut them down, and he was not to allow anyone
to set fire to the ships which were on the beach, unless they
were entirely discomfited in the endeavour to take the
city. But, whereas the captains still adhered to their
opinion, they returned again forthwith by night to talk
with Afonso Dalboquerque, and laid before him many
reasons why he should attack the fortress before the stock-
ades; and he on his part unfolded to them many others, to

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 9

show where he disagreed from their conclusions. And
there arose so many discussions on one side and the other
about this, that Afonso Dalboquerque, in spite of his own
opinion, and in order to content them, desisted from what
he had arranged to do, and allowed himself to be convinced
by their arguments. And when the Turks perceived this
delay, for it was now seven days that our men had been
there without doing anything, they began to grow auda-
cious, and built some stockades still closer to our fleet,
wherein they placed six large bombards, and began to fire
them against us.

Afonso Dalboquerque was annoyed at the little account
the Turks made of him, and with grave and opportune con-
sideration, he sent word to the captains to make themselves
ready, and on the following day, in the morning, to come on
board his ship, for his intention was, in spite of all the dis-
cussions that had been held, to attack the stockades and
fight the Turks, for he could not brook their vain-glory-
ing ; and each one was to fight in the place which had been
marked out for him.

CHAPTER III.

How the great Aíodso Dalboquerque attacked the city of Goa, and took
it by force of arms, when some of our side were killed ; and of the
great havoc that was made of the Moore.

And now that the great Afonso Dalboquerque had made
all arrangements to attack the city, as I have said, on the
following day, before morning broke, which was the day of
St. Catharine, 1 the 25th day of the month of November,

1 *• Na luz, que sempre celebrada, e dina
Sera de Egyptia JSancta Catharina."

Cam., Lus.j x, 43.
See Vol. i, Introd., p. i, for the context and Fanshaw's quaint trans-
lation.

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10 COMMENTARIES OF

of one thousand five hundred and ten, the captains, who
were already prepared, arrived with all their men, and
boarded the flag-ship; and they found Afonso Dalboquerque
already gone on board his skiff, and a pardo with a hundred
and fifty soldiers waiting for them. And after a general
confession had been made by all of them, they arranged
themselves in three companies of attack, according to the
instructions already promulgated, and proceeded against
the city, for the day had now fully dawned ; and, on their
arrival, without any further consultation, they went on to
attack the stockades, each company taking up the position
that had been marked out for it.

The Turks, who were stationed therein, defended them-
selves for a long time, and prevented any entry of the
enemy, and Afonso Dalboquerque, with the men he had in
his company, on arriving at the palisades which Dinis Fer-
nandez had already cut down, went up along the edge of the
ridge at the double. The Turks, because they did not fear
any attack from that side, as soon as they felt themselves
harassed by people at their back, after making a long resist-
ance, began to retire from the stockades. The captains,
when they perceived that the enemy were beginning to be-
come embarrassed with the arrival of Afonso Dalboquerque,
fell upon them so valiantly, carrying in their van the Apostle
Sanctiago [Saint James the greater], who was going with
them as their guide, that in a short space of time they got
into the stockades, and with the enemy in flight made their
way pell-mell as far as the gates of the city, without looking
behind them, killing and maiming many Turks and Rumes,
all of them of superior class, and many well attired in silken
habits and brocades.

Manuel da Cunha, Manuel de Lacerda, Dom Jo&o de
Lima, D. Jeronymo de Lima, his brother, and others in
their company, which were in advance, on arriving at the
gate, experienced great resistance from the Turks; but,

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AFONSO DALBOQUBBQUE. 11

nevertheless, animated by the victory which onr Lord pointed
out to them, they entered into the city by force of arms,
and behind them entered Dinis Fernandez, who had come
up by this time with the men whom he had taken to cut
down the palisades. And so all these being united together
kept on pursuing the Moors as far as the gate of the fortress,
and then they fought a great battle with them ; so well
fought indeed was it on one side and the other, that for a
long space of time each side thought that it had gained the
victory. The Turks, however, who were stationed within
the fortress, came up at once on horse to succour their men,
and so put our men to rout But just at this moment there
arrived Diogo Mendez and Jorge Nunes de Lião, with all
the Fidalgos and men they had in their company, and found
a great number of our men already wounded and put to
great straits ; but on their arrival, the new comers shouted
out to them to fall again upon the Turks, and they would
follow them up.

With this fresh relief our men fell upon the Moors on
foot and on horseback, and one and all closed so desperately
with them, that they routed them, and all together entered
pell-mell through the gates of the fortress ; some of our
party being left behind already dead or wounded. Manuel
de Lacerda, who was marching along wounded in his face
by an arrow, just as he entered by the gate encountered a
Turk upon a horse, and killed him, and mounted the horse,
and performed a great feat in continuing to go on, for he
had a piece of broken arrow fixed in his face, and all his
armour was smirched in the blood which ran down from it.
At this time Afonso Dalboquerque was making his way with
his company at the back of our men, going at a quick
march, in order to give succour whenever he should perceive
they had need of it. Bat the Turks, when they became
aware that they had been invaded by our men, who were
following them up, collected together to the number of five

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12 COMMENTARIES OF

hundred, including a hundred mounted men with their own
captain, and rallied and turned back, and fought with such
vigour, that our soldiers tried hard for a long time without
being able to make them yield.

When Afonso Dalboquerque was informed of the peril
our men were in, he bore down to this spot at full speed,
with all the soldiers in his company, to reinforce them, and
on coming up to them, some among their company made
such fierce havoc among the Turks with their lances, that
they routed them, and killed many ; among them being two
chief captains out of three whom the Hidalc&o had there.
As soon as Manuel de Lacerda beheld Afonso Dalboquerque,
he dismounted his charger and presented it to him. And
when Afonso Dalboquerque saw him with his armour all
smirched with blood, he embraced him, and said: — "Sir
Manuel de Lacerda, I declare to you that I am greatly
envious of you, and so would Alexander the Great have been,
had he been here, for you look more gallant for an evening's
rendezvous than Arelhano". 1 And when Afonso Dalboquer-
que mounted on the horse, all the captains took horses
which the Turks had abandoned, and followed up after the
enemy, and these, without making any further resistance,
turned their backs and fled out of the gate of the fortress.
And many others there, just wherever they chanced to be,
threw themselves down from the walls, in order to shorten
their journey.

As soon as the fortress had been abandoned, Afonso Dal-
boquerque gave orders that the gates should be shut that
led to the city, and a good watch kept over them, in order
that our men should not follow the Moors, nor disband
themselves to plunder. For he feared that as the enemy
were very numerous, they would unite together, and bring

1 The Emperor Aurelian, whose reign presents a succession of bril-
liant exploits which restored for a time their ancient lustre to the arms
of Rome. In a war against the Sarmatians he was believed to have
slain forty -eight of the enemy in one day.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 13

about another catastrophe like that which befel the Portu-
guese at Calicut. 1 So he gave orders to all the captains to
take up positions in the walls of the fortress ; for he had
made up his mind to fortify himself in it. The Turks in-
deed were so dismayed, that those who managed to escape
from the fury of our soldiers made their way in flight over
towards Benastarim, with the object of passing over from
that place to the opposite side of the mainland. And they
went on so excited by fear, that without waiting for any
vessel of transport they swam across the river, and thereby
many of them were drowned and many horses were lost.

The city had now been entered, and when Afonso Dalbo-
querque perceived that the fortress was strongly fortified
with artillery, and the embrasures covered with clay out-
side, in order to deceive our people if they attacked them,
he offered up many thanks to our Lord for thus delivering
them from the dangers which had been prepared against
them, had they operated against the fortress, as the cap-
tains had thought they ought to have done. Out of our
party, one hundred and fifty soldiers were wounded ; and
of the Fidalgos and captains, Manuel de Lacerda, who was
the first who went in at the gate and the first who received
any wounds (for thus I found it written), and Gaspar de
Paiva, Manuel da Cunha, D. João de Lima, Gaspar Cão,
Simão Dandrade, Dinis Fernandez, and all the rest who were
in the advance guard. And seven were killed, of whom one
was D. Jeronymo de Lima, who was mortally wounded at
the entry of the gate of the fortress. And while he lay on
the ground so severely struck that he could not survive,
his brother, D. João de Lima, who was wheeling round
with others, came upon him ; and when he beheld him in
such a condition, with his head leaning against the wall, he
exclaimed, with many tears : — " What is this, brother ? how
art thou V 9 D. Jeronymo replied : — " I am on the point of
1 See vol. ii, p. xbc.

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14 COMMENTARIES OF

finishing this journey ; and I am glad, as it has pleased onr
Lord to require this service of me, that it has been com-
pleted here in his service and in that of the King of Portugal."

D. João de Lima desired to remain in company with him;
but he said : — " Brother, there is no time for you to remain
with me ; go and perform what is required of you, I will
remain here and finish my days, for I have no longer
any strength left/' So D. João de Lima left him, and went
on, following after the Moors ; and when the fortress had
been captured and the Moors driven out, he returned to
seek after his brother, and found him already dead. I
should be very glad to have been either one of these two
brothers; but I know not how to decide which one of the two
I most envy, — whether D. João de Lima, because he went to
fight where such another one as himself could be met with,
or D. Jeronymo de Lima, who did not desire to remedy his
wounds, although they were mortal (it being a very natural
thing for men to desire to live), but rather sought to advance
his brother's honour, and would not consent to his remain-
ing behind with him at a time when the other Fidalgos and
cavaliers were carrying on the fight with the Turks within
the fortress. The decision of this I leave to those who read
the lessons of this history; let them judge whether of these
two brothers best performed his obligations.

They killed also André de Afonseca, Antonio Graces, and
Álvaro Gomes, son of the almoocarife 1 of Alenquer, and
others, whose names are not known. But they who died
and they who remained alive so performed their task, not
only in the attack on the city, but in all the other conflicts
in which they found themselves this day engaged with the
enemy, that it .is worthy that they should be held in great
remembrance ; for, in thus gaining Goa, the possession of
India became secured [to Portugal].

1 Almoxarife, a receiver of customs or dues for commodities imported
or exported. Arabic, Al mochrif, an inspector. — Engelmann.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUB. 15

Nor should anyone forget Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos
and those of his company, for the alacrity and powerful
efforts with which he relieved our soldiers, when a great
number of them had already been wounded, contributed in
a great measure towards the capture of the fortress. And,
indeed, Afonso Dalboquerque was so very well aware of the
powerful efforts and discretion of Diogo Mendez, that he
often declared to him, when they were at variance respect-
ing his voyage to Malaca : — " J abhor the life that I lead,
Sir Diogo Mendez, for my tenure of the supreme office here
has done yon harm/' Thus it was that if our soldiers,
after the first capture of this city, were considered to have
been ill-advised to evacuate it, in this second capture they
recovered their prestige in returning to take it by force of
arms, putting to death, besides many other natives of the
city, two thousand men, whites, Turks, Bumes, and Cora-
çones, which produced, indeed, a terrible dread throughout
all the land, on account of the great confidence that had
hitherto been reposed in their invincibility.

CHAPTER IV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque gave the soldiers permission to
sack the city : and, of the crucifix which was found in some old
walls from which stone was taken for the fortress: and of the
miracle which Our Lord performed for our side on the day of the
battle.

Directly it was reported in Cochim that the great Afonso
Dalboquerque had taken Goa, the captains who were there
loading their ships to set out for Portugal, calling to mind
how he had told them that before their departure they
should have news of the taking of Goa, became very sad
and full of shame, when they knew of it, because they had
not been with him in that enterprise.

After having commanded the captains to take up their

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16 COMMENTARIES OF

positions and guard the fortress, Afonso Dalboquerque gave
permission to the soldiers to sack the city, and free right
to keep everything they took ; but as for his own share, he
cared for nothing more than the contentment derived for
having been enabled to keep his word, which he had given
to the Hidalcão when he was in Goa, as has already been
related.

In the city were captured a hundred large guns (bom-
bardas) and a large quantity of smaller artillery, and two
hundred horses, and many supplies and munitions of war.
All these were ordered to be delivered to the factor for the
king. And after the city had been pillaged, Afonso Dalbo-
querque told the captains to reconnoitre the whole of the
island and to put to the sword all the Moors, men, women,
and children, that should be found, and to give no quarter
to any one of them ; for his determination was to leave no
seed of this race throughout the whole of the island. And
he did this, not only because it was necessary for the security
of the land that there should be none but Hindoos within it,
but also as a punishment for the treachery of which the Moors
had been guilty when he took the city for the first time.
And for four days continuously they poured out the blood
of the Moors who were found therein ; and it was ascer-
tained that of men, women, and children, the number ex-
ceeded six thousand.

The Hindoos, also, for their part, by reason of the hatred
in which they held the Turks, because they had been de-
prived there of the lands whereon they lived, as soon as they
heard the news of the fall of Goa (the principal men, with
their dependents, having fled up into the mountain country),
descended, and cut off the Moors' retreat through the
passes, as they were flying from the fury of the Portuguese.
And when they had taken from them all they carried, they
put them all to the sword, without saving any lives. Now,
in the company of these Turks they killed one who was the

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 17

treasurer and paymaster of the Hidalcao's forces; and
from him they took all the money he had. And Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered that a certain mosque should be
filled with some Moors whom the Hindoos had taken
prisoners, and then set on fire, and in this body of people
was a renegade Christian who deserted to the Hidalc&o
when Goa was taken for the first time.

As soon as the despoiling of the land had been accom-
plished, Afonso Dalboquerque turned his attention without
delay to the fortifications of the city, and ordered that a
great quantity of cement should be prepared, and all the
sepulchres of the Moors thrown down, in order to obtain
plenty of stone for the works, and to all the captains eaiã fidal-
gos he appointed a regular turn of duty, and so made great
haste to complete the work ; for he was fearful of the arrival
of the Hidalc&o, and would not that he should find him in
an unprepared state. And, as he hoped to establish in Goa
the principal seat of the Governors of India, he so arranged
the plan, that the palace of the Çabaio remained within the
boundary, because the edifices of it were very nobly designed,
a work of great beauty and finely built. And by reason of
this great diligence, in a very short time he completed the
fortress where it now stands, with its towers and ditches,
with their breastworks, for the defence of the harbour and
anchorage of the ships.

At this time some men were progressing with the de-
struction of some old walls, in order to get stones for the
works of defence, when they discovered in the foundations 1
an image of the crucifix in copper. When the news of
this ran through the city, Afonso Dalboquerque came down
at once with all the people and clergy who were with him,
and they carried the crucifix, with great devotion and many
tears, to the church. Great wonder was there that then

1 Alicerces; also found as alicesse and alicece, from the Arabic al-aças,
the cement of a building.

VOL. III. C

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18 COMMENTARIES OF

seized upon all beholders ; for within the memory of man
there was no record of any Christians ever having been at
that place, and they believed that oar Lord had sent down
that sign from Heaven, in order to shew that it was his
will that the kingdom should belong to the King of Portugal
and not to the Hidalc&o, and that their mosques should be-
come houses of prayer, 1 wherein his name should be wor-
shipped. For whereas the city was very strongly garrisoned
and provided with artillery and arms, and all other things
necessary for its defence, our people had not been sufficient
— being so few in number — to take it, had there not been
within it this signal of the Cross whereon our Lord suffered,
which called upon them as it were, and gave them the
power to attack the city; had it not been also for the
Apostle Sanctiago, who helped them, whereof the very
Moors bore good testimony, to the effect that after the fall
of the city they inquired of our men what manner of man
was that captain with shining armour and a red cross,
who marched with the Christians, striking and killing the
Moors, for it was he alone that had taken their city from
them.

And Afonso Dalboquerque, not only from the great de-
votion which he had for this saint, but because he was a
knight of the order of the saint, did not forget this favour
which he had received from him ; and he sent to the con-
vent of Palmela 3 a staff of the length of six palms and of
the thickness of a lance, 8 all overlaid with gold, with inlaid
work, 4 and the hand of the staff covered with pearls and

1 Isaiah Ivi, 7 ; Math, xxi, 18 ; Mark xi, 17 ; Luke xix, 46.

* Palmela, a town in Portugal, south of Lisbon, 88 deg. 34 min. N. ;
8 deg. 57 min. W. Bluteau gives an interesting account of its history.
The convent is the head of the Military Order of Santiago, and is kept
by Brethren of the Rule of St» Augustine.

8 Arremeçâo.

4 Lavrado de Tauxia ; Tauxía or ataxia, damaskeening or inlaying of
one metal upon another; from the Arabic at tauchiya, to colour, to render

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUE. 19-

rubies, and a penitential scourge of very large beads of
gold, and a shell 1 of gold of good size, with many precious
stones in it, placed upon a hat of crimson satin ; and at his
death he bequeathed to the Apostle Sanctiago of Galiza 3 a
very large lampstand of silver, and a hundred thousand reufi
in eash for oil.

When this news of the taking of Goa reached Cambaya,
and it became known that Afonso Dalboquerque was fortify-
ing himself therein, with intent to maintain his position, the
king perceived that his own league was destroyed, and
therefore ordered the liberation of the prisoners whom he
had captured when D. Afonso Noronha, the nephew of
Afonso Dalboquerque, had been taken prisoner, and also
offered to give up Diu for the site of a Portuguese fortress ;
and from that time forward the king continually sent am-
bassadors to treat for peace. And Mirocem, 4 captain of the
fleet of the Grand Sultan, who was in Cambaya (with some
of the forces that had escaped from the rout inflicted upon
them by the Viceroy 6 ), where he was awaiting the relief for
which he had sent to Cairo, in order to refit his forces at
Goa, no sooner learned that Goa was taken (and that, too,
with great havoc among the Turks), than he gave up all
hopes of bringing his mission to a fortunate termination,
and obtained permission from the King of Cambaya to go
to Judá, 6 where he remained for some days, and from that
port set out for Suez by sea in a shallop,? where he found

beautiful ; in Portuguese the word has the more limited meaning given
above.

i Vieira. This word gives the name to a large number of Portuguese
families. Among others who have borne it, is the author of the well-
known Portuguese Grammar and Portuguese-English Dictionaries.

* Gallicia.

1 About £20 16s. 8d. of English money, — a large sum in those days.

« See vol. i, p. 222 ; vol. ii, p. 112.

8 At Diu. See vol. ii, pp. 112, 113, note.— Lusiada, x, 34-36.

• Djeddah. See vol. i, p. 284. -

1 Gelua. See jelua, vol. i, p. 226, note.

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20 COMMENTARIES OF

the fleet in progress of preparation. And when Mirocem
thus arrived at Cairo to impart this news of the taking of
Goa to the Sultan, orders were given to stop the building
of the fleet, and no more trouble was taken about it. The
ambassador of the King of Cambaya was thereupon des-
patched with orders to report that on the completion of the
fortress, Afonso Dalboquerque would come and visit the
king and arrange the terms of peace. And because Afonso
Dalboquerque was desirous of sounding the wishes of the
Hidalc&o relative to an alliance, he wrote the following
letter to him, with certain grandiloquent ideas 1 involved in
it; for, as long as he governed India, he always availed
himself, first of one- thing, then of another, in his intercourse
with the kings.

Letter which the qreat Afonso Dalboquerque wrote to
the hldalcao as soon as goa had been taken.

"Very honourable and good Cavalier Milohau ! the great
Afonso Dalboquerque, Captain-General of India and of
the Kingdom and Lordship of Ormuz and of the King-
dom and Lordship of Goa, for the very high and very
powerful D. Manuel, King of Portugal and of the Algarves,
on this side and on that of the sea, in Africa Lord of Guiné,
and of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia,
Arabia, Persia, and of India, I send you my greeting. You
must well know how the Çabayo, your father, used to take
the ships of Malabar out of the ports and harbours of the
King my Lord ; wherefore it was that I was constrained to
go against Goa, and take the city, and there it is that I
am occupied in building a very strong fortress. I wish
most sincerely that your father had been living, that he
might know me to be a man of my word : out of regard for
him, I shall be ever your friend, and I will assist you

1 Rebolarias, an uncommon word, probably derived from rebolar, to
roll about.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 21

against the King of Decan, and against your enemies ; and
I will cause all the horses 1 that arrive here to be carried to
your stations and youj marts, in order that you may hare
possession of them. Fain would I that the Merchants of
your land would come with white stuffs and all manner of
merchandize to this port, and take to yours in exchange
merchandize of the sea and of the land, and horses, and I
will give them a safe conduct. If you wish for my friend-
ship, let your messengers come to me with your communica-
tions, and I will send you others on my part, who shall con-
vey to you my communications : if you will perform this
which I write unto you, by my aid shall you be able to gain
possession of much land, and become a great Lord among
the Moors. Be desirous of performing this, for thus it
shall be well with you, and you shall have great power;
and for all that the Çabayo, your father, be dead, I will be
your father, and bring you up like a son. Let your messen-
ger bring back immediately to me a reply, and let the
merchants of the land come under safe-conduct to Goa; and
as for the Merchants who bring merchandize and come
under your letters of safe conduct, signed by your hand, I
will be responsible for their safety ."

CHAPTER V.

How the Nequibares sent to request a safe conduct from Afonso Dalbo-
querque, in order that they might come and live at Goa ; and how
our forces pat to rout Meliqueaye, the captain of the HidalcSo.

When the Nequibares, who were stationed on the main-
land, perceived that the great Afonso Dalboquerque was
establishing himself firmly in Goa, they sent to desire a safe

1 The horse trade was a great source of employment and revenue on
the Indian coast.— See vol. ii, pp. 76, 77, 107, 111 ; see also Col. Yule,
Marco Polo, vol. i, pp. 84, 88, 324, 833, etc., and Index ; 2nd edition.

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22 COMMENTARIES OF

conduct from him in order that they might come over with
all their people and live in the city. These Nequibares
were the principal men and captains of the people. Now,
whereas Afonso Dalboquerque was anxious of gathering to-
gether into the city all the native Hindoos of the land, he
was very glad of the offers of these Nequibares, for he was
in hopes that they would help him in the construction of
the fortress, so he sent them the safe conduct which they
had desired him to give ; and when they arrived in Goa he
gave them houses and possessions according to each one's
station of life on the mainland. And after he had sent
messengers to this effect to the Nequibares, news reached
him that Meliqueaye, 1 captain of the Hidalcão, had arrived
with a large body of men at Condal, and at Banda, with
the intention of forcing an entrance into the island of Goa.
And although Afonso Dalboquerque was fully occupied in
the work upon the fortress, because he felt so strongly the
necessity of finishing it as quickly as he could, nevertheless
he could not endure that a captain of the Hidalc&o should
come and besiege the lands of Goa while he was in the
island; he therefore lost no time in despatching Diogo
Fernandez de Beja to sail into the River of Banda, and dis-
pute the passage with Meliqueaye in the lands of Antuge
and Saste. And with him he sent also, as captains of the
vessels, Aires Pereira, Antonio Dabrea, Gaspar Cfto, and
Antonio de Matos, with two hundred men.

Diogo Fernandez, as soon as he was ready, set out with
his people, and reached Banda, and went up the river, and
without any further consideration disembarked immediately.
When Meliqueaye perceived that our men had disembarked,
he proceeded to attack them, relying upon the numerous
bodies of Turks who were under his command, and Diogo
Fernandez waited for them with great bravery, and plied

1 The first part of this name is Melek, Lord. See vol. ii, pp. 85, 86,
for names similarly formed.

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AFONSO DALBOQUXBQUE. 23

the enemy so fiercely with lances, that the Turks, discon-
certed by the determined resistance with which our people
awaited them on foot, took to their horses and retreated in
so disorderly a manner, that many threw themselves down
over the ravines and there ended their days.

With this victory, Diogo Fernandez returned to Goa, and
related to Afonso Dalboquerque all that had taken place,
and declared how Meliqueaye was making his way in the
direction of Divarij, in order to cross over into the island
[of Goa] in that direction. With this news of the intentions
of Meliqueaye, which Diogo Fernandez brought him, Afonso
Dalboquerque forthwith dispatched Gaspar de Pavia to pro-
ceed to guard that pass, and in company with him there
went Afonso Pessoa, Martim Guedez, Vasco Fernandez
Coutinho, and many others. Meliqueaye, finding himsel f dis-
comfited by the inability of his people, withdrew with the
shattered remains of his forces, and made his way to essay
the entrance to the island by the pass of Divarij. But, on
arriving there, although he went carelessly, with the idea
that he would not find anyone there to resist him, inasmuch
as ho was by nature very proud, nevertheless he made up
his mind to lay siege to the stockades which Gaspar de
Paiva had by that time constructed, and drew up his forces,
both infantry and cavalry, in battle array, with himself in
the front rank, and made his way to attack them.

But Gaspar de Paiva, who had already received notice of
the approach of Meliqueaye, awaited the attack with great
readiness, and at the first encounter his matchlockmen slew
some of the mounted Turks ; and these, according to their
custom, used to ride fastened into their saddles with straps,
so that the horses, having no longer any riders to govern
them, ran among their own people and threw them into dis-
order. As soon as Gaspar de Paiva observed that the Turks
were thrown into confusion, he sallied out of his trenches
and lost no time in falling upon the enemy, and routed

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24 COMMENTARIES OF

them, and followed up after them for a good space. Yasco
Fernandez Coutinho, although at that time he was but a
lad of eighteen years of age, encountered a Turk on a
horse, and taking him by the reins, raised up his caparison
and stabbed him with a sword; and when the horse fell
down dead, he fell upon the Turk, and cut off his head, and
thus at that day of the fight shewed himself to be a son
worthy of his sire, a descendant worthy of his ancestors.

When the affair was thus terminated, Gaspar de Paiva
withdrew to his stockade, and Meliqueaye, finding himself
sorely pressed by our men on both sides, no longer ventured
to attack them, but withdrew with his men two leagues
away into the interior country, to a place which is called
Diocalij, and there he pitched his camp, making some very
strong stockades of wood for its defence, in case he should
be attacked there. As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque per-
ceived that Meliqueaye was thus put to rout and it was pro-
bable, in case of his being attacked at once, that this chief
might easily fall into his hands, he proceeded himself to
seek for him, in the place where the camp was pitched, with
one thousand Portuguese, and two thousand natives com-
manded by their own captains, and passed over to the
mainland in the galleys and boats. And as soon as the
force had disembarked, Afonso -Dalboquerque divided it
into four battalions, and stationed them in certain passes,
about the distance from the edge of the sea of a shot from
a matchlock, and there he arranged an ambush, and ordered
the captains of the Hindoos to take their soldiers and run
to the enemy's camp, and in case any Turks should issue
out after them, they were to retreat in the direction of the
place where he had placed the ambush.

The captains of the Hindoos, as soon as they came in
sight of the camp, found Meliqueaye outside the stockades,
drawn up on a lofty hill with his army, like a man who was
well aware of the trap laid for him by Afonso Dalboquerque.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 25

But as he was a good captain, and well versed in the art of
war, he remained perfectly quiet, and would not attack the
Hindoos. So when the captains observed that Meliqueaye
did not care to meddle with them, they withdrew to the
place where Afonso Dalboquerque was waiting (for he had
given them the order to do so in this case), and related to
him the position of the affair as they had found it. And
Afonso Dalboquerque, perceiving thus that Meliqueaye had
become aware of his plan, proceeded to the Island of
Divarij, and therein he left Bodrigo Rabelo and Manuel
de Lacerda, with soldiers, and then he went on to the city.

After the lapse of a few days, Meliqueaye, who found
himself not sufficiently strong to be able to resist our
people if they were to desire to invade him, sent a messenger
to Afonso Dalboquerque desiring peace with him. But
Afonso Dalboquerque demanded of the messenger whether
Meliqueaye held a permission from the Hidalcao to enter
into negotiations for peace or not. The messenger replied
that the only message he carried was from Meliqueaye,
who was a captain of the Hidalcao, and could not enter into
peace without the permission of the Hidalcao. Afonso
Dalboquerque therefore dispatched the messenger back
without any reply, for it appeared to him when he reflected
upon the disorganised proceedings of Meliqueaye, that his
stay there could not be in accordance with the wishes of
the Hidalcao.

CHAPTER VI.

How Merlao came to Goa, and the Nequibares desired Afonso Dalbo-
querque to give him to them for their governor, and what took
place thereupon ; and how he ordered Diogo Fernandez de Beja to
destroy the fortress of Çacotorâ.

Por some days past, a messenger from the King of Onor
had been staying in Goa, seeking to conclude an alliance

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26 COMMENTARIES OF

with the great Afonso Dalboquerque ; for this king had
usurped the kingdom and ejected from it Merlao, to whom
it belonged by right of being the elder brother ; and there-
fore the king was very mnch in fear that Afonso Dalboquerque
would favour Merlao in opposition to him, in consequence
of the undertaking which he had given to the Portuguese
to help them in their first enterprise against Goa. As
soon as Merlao (who at this period was in Baticalá with the
king, his uncle, in possession of soldiers on foot and horse,
with the intention of setting out to recover his kingdom
if he could) became aware that his brother was nego-
tiating with Afonso Dalboquerque, in order to benefit him-
self by such an alliance, he sent a messenger with letters
informing Afonso Dalboquerque of the position in which
the matter stood, and telling him how his brother had
risen up against him, and deprived him of the kingdom by
force, begging Afonso Dalboquerque to help him with his
alliance, and stipulating that he would serve the King of
Portugal in all that might be commanded of him. And
Afonso Dalboquerque accepted his offers, not only because
his fame was great as a brave cavalier, but also because he
was a captain whom the Hindoos held in great esteem.
And this he did with the intention of conferring upon him
the government of the lands of Goa; for he had been
brought up there, and had always made war upon the Turks,
and on two occasions, when he had been besieged by them,
with his Hindoos alone he had defended the city like a very
valiant cavalier; and with this determination, because it
seemed to him to be very conducive to the service of the
King Dom Manuel to re-establish Merlao and shew him
favours, Afonso Dalboquerque sent to Baticalá the galleys
for him, with some vessels for the transport of his men
and horses. And he also sent two Portuguese captains,
with two thousand Hindoo soldiers, to go by land and
receive him at Cintácora, carrying letters to the Tana-

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 27

dares 1 and people of the lands of Goa, ordering them to
receive him and obey him as they would Afonso Dalboquer-
que himself. And all these people did so with great de-
light, by reason of the estimation in which they held him,
for they were desirous of being governed by him.

The brother, who was in Onor, being informed that
Merlao had come to Cintácora to embark, immediately sent
some of his people to Caribal and Ancola (two places which
lie in front of Cintácora, on the opposite side of the river,
where the Kingdom of Goa is divided from that of Onor),
to labour to prevent his passage, promising them great re-
wards if they captured him ; for he was alarmed lest Afonso
Dalboquerque should assist him in his attempt to cast him
out of the kingdom. But, notwithstanding all these en-
deavours which his brother made, Merlao conducted himself
with such skill, that he passed over without any conflict
with the soldiers of his brother, and reached Goa (taking
with him a captain of the King of Narsinga, who was called
Icarao, who for days past had been in his company, in dis-
cord with the king), where he was received with great
pleasure by Afonso Dalboquerque, who ordered that he
should be lodged in the principal houses of the city, and in-
structed the factor to supply him with everything he or his
people should require.

The Nequibares were so delighted at the arrival of Mer-
lao, that it was not many days before they went to Afonso
Dalboquerque [and begged him] to give him to them as
their governor, for all the people desired him. And Afonso
Dalboquerque was very glad at this proceeding on their
part, because this was the principal reason why he had ex-
tended his assistance to him; so he told the Nequibares
that for his own part he was glad of it, and he would talk
with Merlao and then give them a reply. And, on the
following day, in the morning, Afonso Dalboquerque caused
1 See vol. ii, p. 125, note.

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28 COMMENTARIES OF

Merlao to be summoned before him, and told him that he
was desirous of letting him hold the lands of Goa at a yearly
rental, and of giving him the government of them, provided
that he would pay every year to the King Dom Manuel, his
Lord, or to his governors of India, forty thousand pardaos, 1
in four payments, just as the people had to pay, in addition
to a payment for three months, which the land still owed to
the Hidalcão ; for they had to be demanded on the part of
the King, his Lord. Merlao was very well pleased*

And when the agreements which were made about this
matter had been drawn and signed, Afonso Dalboquerque
summoned before him the Nequibares and all the principal
men of the Hindoos, and took Merlao by the hand before
them, and told them that he gave him to them to be their
governor, for he knew how much they desired to have him,
and how well they would be treated by him ; and they re-
ceived Merlao with great pleasure and much festivity and
blowing of horns, in accordance with their customs. And,
in two or three days' time, Merlao set out, and crossed over
to the mainland, taking with him five thousand peons and
fifty horsemen, and commenced at once to farm his Tana-
dayrias?

Now, seeing that the fortress of Goa was already in so
advanced a state that it would withstand all the power of
the Hidalcão, Afonso Dalboquerque sent Diogo Fernandez
de Beja, as chief captain of three ships, to dismantle the
fortress of Çacotorá (as the King D. Manuel so often had
ordered to be done), and he gave him a set of instructions
how he was to act in this business, and there he was to re-
main until the fifteenth day of the month of May, for he

1 For the value of the pardao, see vol. ii, p. 95. Forty thousand
pardaos is somewhat more than £3000.

* Tanadaria is rendered by Vieyra Cabeça de Comarca, the principal
city or town of a Comarca or district ; in this passage the word appears
to apply to the office or appointment of a Tanadar.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEBQUE. 29

might be enabled to come to him, if the affairs of India per-
mitted it, as late as this; but if it were to fall out that
Afonso Dalboquerque could not be with him by that time,
then Diogo Fernandez de Beja was to proceed to Ormuz,
with his letters and powers which he carried, in order to
receive the tribute, for Cogeatar had sent word to say that
he was willing to pay it ; and when this had been done, he
was to make his way in the month of August by the route
to India, and unite with the fleet of Manuel de Lacerda,
who was to remain as chief captain of the sea while he
himself (Afonso Dalboquerque) sailed away from India, and
the two united were to cruise off that coast, for so, if Goa
fell into any trouble, they could succour the city ; and in
order that Diogo Fernandez might be the better entertained
by Cogeatar, Afonso Dalboquerque gave permission to all
the ships of Ormuz that were in Goa to carry spices, and
gave them a safe conduct to be enabled to pass, giving them
to understand that they were to come back direct to Goa
with the horses they were to bring with them.

And because Afonso Dalboquerque was in certain re-
spects impeded and prevented from carrying out his in-
tended expedition in this direction, Diogo Fernandez de
Beja, after he had destroyed the fortress of Çacotorá, and
the appointed period of time had elapsed, made his way to
Ormuz, and received the tribute, and from that port set
sail for India, and found Goa besieged by the forces of the
Hidalc&o, as will be related hereafter.

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30 COMMENTARIES OF

CHAPTER VII.

Of the ambassadors whom the Çamorim, after the fall of Goa, sent to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque, desiring peace with him ; and how
Simão Rangel was sent upon this business, and what passed con-
cerning it.

Whereas the Çamorim had been informed that the great
Afonso Dalboquerque had captured Goa, and was fortifying
himself in the city with the intention of retaining possession
of it, — no longer relying upon the league which had been
made between himself and the Hidalc&o with the object of
ejecting the Portuguese from India ; and whereas, too, he
was aware that the King of Gambaya, another member of
the league, had sent back to Afonso Dalboquerque the
Portuguese who had been prisoners in his territory; he
ordered his ambassadors to repair to Afonso Dalboquerque,
and they set out from Calicut in a paráo, and in a few days
reached Goa. And when they had arrived they sent word
to Afonso Dalboquerque that they had come to his Lordship
with an embassy from the Çamorim, and begged him of his
kindness that he would grant them a hearing.

So in order to give a greater air of importance to this
business, Afonso Dalboquerque ordered Francisco Pantoja,
chief alcaide of the fortress, to proceed to the ambassadors
and bring them ; while he himself waited in the hall of re-
ception with all the captains and Fidalgos, and received
them with great expressions of delight and demonstrations
of being well pleased with their friendship.

The ambassadors, after shewing him the accustomed
courtesy according to their manner, told him that the Çamo-
rim, their Lord, had sent word by them to inform him how
happy he would be if he could have been able to converse
with him, so that he could shew him the pleasure he felt in
the capture of Goa by the Portuguese; and that in conse-

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AFONSO DALBOQUBEQUE. 31

quence of his desire of friendship with the King of Portugal
he had sent to make him an offer of all his estate, if it
would please him, and a site in the kingdom for the con-
struction of a fortress, for thus would his friendship be
more truly manifested ; and begged that a person of great
confidence might be sent to him to arrange this matter on
a proper footing.

Afonso Dalboquerque replied to them that he accepted
those offers of alliance made by the Çamorim in the name of
the King of Portugal, his Lord, and on these conditions he
himself would serve the Çamorim with all his fleets and
soldiers that were stationed in India, whenever it were re-
quired, and that he would send without delay, in their com-
pany, a servant of the King, his Lord, to treat of that matter
of theirs that had been proposed. And whereas for some
time Afonso Dalboquerque had been desirous of setting foot
in Calicut and constructing there a fortress with peace and
friendship (seeing that he never could get the better of the
Çamorim in the war which he had carried on against him),
when three or four days had passed after Afonso Dalboquer-
que had related to the captains all this business, and all of
them had arrived at the conclusion that it would be very
conducive to the service of the King of Portugal that a
fortress should be constructed in Calicut, he dispatched the
ambassadors and shewed them every attention in the name
of the King; and in company with them he sent Simào
Rangel, servant of the King, in a fusta y with written in-
structions concerning the way he was to proceed.

As soon as Simão Rangel arrived at Calicut, he went on
board the caravela of Simão Afonso which was riding at anchor
in the harbour, and there he awaited the answer of the King,
for Afonso Dalboquerque had so commanded him to act.
When the ambassadors had come before their king, they
related to him how Afonso Dalboquerque was in Goa with
great strength of soldiery, and how he was fortifying him-

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32 COMMENTARIES OF

self in that city, and how the Portuguese had discomfited a
captain of the Hidalc&o, who had come down upon the lands
of Goa; and that Afonso Dalboquerque had sent in their
company a servant of the King of Portugal to ratify the
terms of peace.

The Çamorim, knowing that Simão Rangel was on board
the caravela, and was not likely to come on shore, com-
manded the governors of the city to commune with him,
and they had many conversations relative to the terms of
the peace, without being able to arrive at any definite con-
clusion; for the king was willing only to grant a fortress in
Chale, whereas Afonso Dalboquerque ordered in his written
instructions that he was not to accept any site unless it
were in the harbour of Calicut in front of the king's own
landing-stage. 1 And it turned out that, after all, they came
tó no agreement, for the king would not grant any site for
a fortress in his own land; but only wanted to keep the
matter open with dissimulations, to the end that, at this
same season, the Moorish merchants might dispatch their
ships, which they had laden, for the Straits ; but this they
could not do as long as the caravelas of the Portuguese fleet
were lying there at anchor in the harbour.

When Simão Rangel perceived the object of these delays,
and that it was all owing to the bad temper and dissimula-
tion of the king, he ceased to communicate with the gover-
nors, and went on board the fusta, and shaped his course for
Goa, where he arrived and gave an account to Afonso Dal-
boquerque of what had taken place, and related the dilatory
way in which the Çamorim had carried on the negotiations
with him. And he declared, too, that in his own opinion
the king would never, of his own will, grant permission to
erect a fortress in any site in his land, for all that he might
offer them a site in Chale.

But, inasmuch as Afonso Dalboquerque was by this time
1 Or jetty, Cerame; see vol. i, p. 115.

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AFONSO DÀLBOQUERQUE. 33

ready with his floet to sail away and cruise off the straits
[of the Eed Sea] — which projected expedition he afterwards
abandoned for the voyage to Malaca, as will be related
farther on — he left this matter opon and in the position it
now stood, until his return from Malaca, and desired
Manuel de Lacerda, who was under orders, to remain as
Chief Captain of the Fleet on that coast [of India] to con-
tinue ever cruising off the harbour of Calicut, and to harass
it in every possible way, and prevent any ships from getting
out.

But while Afonso Dalboquerque was away at Malaca, the
Turks came down to besiege Goa, and thereby Manuel de
Lacerda was compelled to quit the coast of Calicut and pro*
ceed to the assistance of Goa. And at this very time the
Moors had an opportunity of dispatching their ships, laden
with spiceries, to the Straits : and these, when they were
so far advanced as the Island of Çacotorá, between the Cape
of Guardafum and Magadoxo, 1 encountered a storm so fierce
that it wrecked two of them, and the others were wrecked
in that gulf; and Mafamede Maçari, 2 who was sailing in
that company reached the Maldive Islands. 8

When the Moorish merchants, who lived in Calicut, per-
ceived that their trade navigation was thus cut off, they
departed with their wares, some to Cairo, others to Cam-
baya, others to Ormuz and to other parts, in such wise that
very few who were not natives of that place were left re-
maining in Calicut, and these used to come from Çufim, 4

1 On the coast of Somali, in Africa.

* Mafamede Maçari, evidently a corrupted form of the name
Mohammed

* In the Indian Ocean, 5 deg. N. lat., 73 deg, 30 min. E. long.

* Çufira, also called by the Portuguese Azafie, and by the natives
Asfi, is evidently Safie, on the coast of Barbary, 82 deg. 17 min. N.^
9 deg. 8 min. W. There is a valuable account of this great city in Le
Grand Dictionnaire Géographiqne of M. Brazen de la Martiniere. Paris,
folio, 1768.

VOL. III. d

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34 COMMENTARIES OF

from Our&o 1 from Tremecim,* and from Tripoli, 8 with their
wares, to Cairo, and from Cairo they used to make their
way to Judá, and from Jndá to Calicut, with ready money,
and there they used to build new ships, and load them with
spiceries, and so returned to their own lands.

On one occasion, Afonso Dalboquerque enquired of a Moor
of these people who had been taken in one of their ships
which had come from the Straits, how it was that they
ventured to come from so far off to trade in Calicut, seeing
that it stood between two of our fortresses, and that they
were obliged to pass over the very place where our fleets
were stationed. The Moor replied that the profits were so
great that they would run all risks to get there ; for, for
every cruzado laid out in Calicut, they used to make twelve
or thirteen in Judá and in all the places that stood within
the mouth of the Straits ; and he stated it was in conse-
quence of this profit being so great, and the trade in
pepper being so extensive, that the Moors who were estab-
lished in Calicut laboured to prevent the Çamorim from
granting permission to the Portuguese to erect a fortress
in his territory, for if this were granted to them the
merchants would be left without any trade navigation to
the Straits.

1 OiirSo, now Oran, on the north coast of Africa. See vol. i,
p. 120.

* Tremecim, also called Tremecem, Telemicen, Telmsen, Tlemecen,
or Tlemcen, and anciently Timisi, a town fifty miles S. W. of Oran, 34
deg. 52 min. N., 1 deg. 18 min. W. See K. Johnston's Dictionary of
Geography ; Hitter's Geographisch-Statistisch Lexicon, by A. Stark, Leip-
zig, 1865 ; and M. Brazen de la Martiniere's work quoted above, where
there is an interesting notice of the site.

* Tripoli, on the north coast of Africa.
« Jidda, See vol. i, p. 234.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 35

CHAPTER VIII.

How the King of Narsinga sent his ambassadors to visit Afonso
Dalboquerque concerning the capture of Goa ; and of the news
which Fr. Luiz communicated to him, and what passed thereafter.

After that the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent Fr. Luiz
to Narsinga, — following the disaster of Calicut (as I have
already related), — he never received any news of how things
had fared with him in respect to the instructions which he
carried with him ; but when Goa had been taken for the
second time, as soon as the news reached Narsinga the
king immediately ordered his ambassadors to pay a visit to
Afonso Dalboquerque, and by means of them Fr. Luiz
wrote to him, relating the manner of his arrival at Nar-
singa, and stating that, in other letters which he had
written he had described how he had been well received by
all except the king; and, on this occasion, he desired to
inform Afonso Dalboquerque that the King of Narsinga
was getting himself ready with five thousand men on foot
and two thousand on horse, for an expedition against one of
his vassals who had risen up in rebellion and seized the city
of Pergundá, 1 (the rebel) declaring that to himself belonged
the kingdom itself by right; and that directly he had taken
the rebel the king would proceed with all this force of men to
his places situated on the edge of the sea, and he (Fr. Luiz),
for his part, could not understand the drift of this, but as
Goa was so close by he would advise Afonso Dalboquerque
to keep up friendly communications with the king, and by
no means to place any reliance upon the King of Garçopa,
nor upon Timoja, for they were men of such bad dispositions
that they had even written to the King of Narsinga that,
if he wished to regain possession of Goa, — for it had

1 Pergundá, perhaps Purkundi, in the Bengal Presidency, 30 deg. 28
min. N., 79 deg. 4 min. E.

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36 COMMENTARIES OF

anciently belonged to the ancestors of the king — he must
send them both infantry, and cavalry, and elephants, and
then they would deliver the city over to him before the
Portuguese could fortify their position therein. And, he
went on to say, that he had received trustworthy news that
the Hidalcão had set forth with a large force to attack the
city of Calbergate, 1 the Guazil of which was an Abyssinian
eunuch, a servant of the King of Decam, 2 by name Melique
Distur, 8 and, as it could not withstand the siege, after two
months it had surrendered upon certain conditions ; and
there had risen up against the Hidalcão four of the principal
Guazils of the kingdom (for the Hidalcão carried back with
him the King of Decam a prisoner, deprived of all his com-
mand), who had gone up against him with a numerous force
in hopes of destroying him ; and when these Guazils arrived
at a certain watercourse which they could not pass they let
themselves rest and there remained ; but the Hidalcão, out
of fear of them, had sent for the soldiers who were on duty
in guarding the lands of Goa.

And Fr. Luiz went on to declare that there had also
arrived news to the King of Narsinga that the principal
Hindoos of the city of Bilg&o* (as soon as they had heard of
the capture of Goa and fortification of it by the Portuguese)
had broken out into rebellion against the Hidalcão, and had
cast the Moors out of the city, and put themselves under
the command of the king [of Narsinga], for this city had

' Kulburga % GoWurga, or Caiberga, in the Nizam's dominions, Bengal
Presidency, 17 deg. 20 min. N., 76 deg. 52 min. E. The latter part of
the name, according to the Portuguese rendering, may be intended to
signify Ghaut. * The Deccan.

8 This is manifestly the Portuguese rendering of Melek Distur. The
first word has been frequently explained before, lhe word distur is of
Persian origin, and is used both in the Persian and Arabic languages to
signify a minister ; here, however, it appears rather as a proper name
than as a title.

4 Belgâon, Belgaum, or Belganw y in the Bombay Presidency, 15 deg.
50 min. N., 74 deg. 31 min. E.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEBQUE/ 37

formerly belonged to him, but the Hidalcâo had taken it from
him.

Bilgâo is a very large city, and there is in it a very large
fort, and it is a pass and principal port from the kingdom
of Decam to Goa. There is a very extensive mountain range
which overlooks the lands of Goa, just as the range of
Algarve [in Portugal] looks over the plain of Ourique, and
when this range has been crossed the kingdom of Decam
lies all along flat table-land, like the same plain. And be-
cause the principal reason why the old Çabayo had obtained
possession of Goa was that he had captured this fortress
by treachery of the Hindoos who used to hold it, Afonso
Dalboquerque used to say very often, when he found himself
annoyed by the recalcitration of the Hidalcâo, that if the
king D. Manuel desired to keep the kingdom of Goa safe,
he ought by all means to try all in his power to take this
fortress, for by holding it he would secure all the estate he
had there. And as for the nogotiations which his instruc-
tions ordered him to carry out, he had presented them many
times without getting any answer to the purpose, but always
had been put off; but at last he had told him, that he was
very much disconcerted at the orders for attacking him, and
he might build a fortress in Batacalá, for he said that he
was very desirous of his friendship at the very time that
he knew that it had been entered into with the Hidalcâo,
but that did not agree with the offers that he had made to
help him in taking the kingdom of Decam, which had been
his of old. And when these interviews with the king were
over, the king sent for the governor of the city, and blamed
him very much for desiring this alliance with the Hidalcâo.
And that King of Garçopa had written him a letter by
virtue of which he could take him and destroy him if he
liked, but as they were now very friendly, he had not done
so ; but that if this were done for money, which he had
promised to give him every year, the Hidalcâo would show

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38 COMMENTARIES OF

towards them that true faith which his father had shown
towards the King of Narsinga when he took him in battle,
but released him on his promise to serve him for ever.

At the receipt of this intelligence, which Fray Lniz wrote of
matters which had passed with the King of Narsinga, and
with his governor, Afonso Dalboquerque became somewhat
in suspense when he saw that he was withdrawing from that
which he had so often declared, namely, to help him against
the Hidalcâo. But as he knew how this came about, he
dissembled with him, and wrote to Fray Luiz by the same
ambassador who had brought him the letter, to take his
leave of the king with as much dissimulation as he could,
and return immediately ; and he put himself in communica-
tion with the Hidalcâo, declaring that he desired friendship
with him. For, in order that the affairs of India should
progress satisfactorily, as was convenient to the King of
Portugal, Afonso Dalboquerque always laboured to make
each one of these lords understand that he desired to have
peace and friendship and the trade in horses with him,
which was what they claimed ; for, whereas he held the key
of their position at Goa, he desired by means of this artifice
to sow dissensions among them.

After he had written to the Hidalcâo, he sent off to the
ambassadors of the King of Narsinga, sending word by them
that a year ago he had sent certain conditions to him through
Fray Luiz, but as he had not yet received any reply to them,
he could not come to any conclusion with regard to the mes-
sages that had been sent. The ambassadors set out, and
when they arrived at Bisnaga, they found Fray Luiz was
dead, for a Turk had killed him, and it was reported that the
Hidalcâo had ordered his murder; and they delivered the
message which they brought from Afonso Dalboquerque to
the king, and told him that while at Goa they had discovered
that he was communicating with the Hidalcâo. So alarmed
was the King of Narsinga at hearing of this alliance, for he

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 39

knew that the Hidalcâo had the horses which was the princi-
pal strength of his arrpy, that he immediately sent back the
two ambassadors to the great Afonso Dalboquerque with
very full powers to conclude a treaty of friendship, and to
arrange the terms of the trade in horses.

CHAPTER IX.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set in order certain matters in the
city, and established a Mint there, and of what followed.

The great Afonso Dalboquerque was so desirous that Goa
should return to the state of trade which it had always
enjoyed when under the rule of the Çabayo, that so soon as
the fortress was on the point of completion he dispatched
several captains along the coast with orders to compel all
the ships they met with to go into port at Goa, and this he
did for two reasons. The first was, that he might benefit
the harbour and re-people the city to its former number of
population ; and that the caravans of Narsinga and of the
kingdom of the Decam, with their merchandise, might come
to Goa in search of horses as they used of old to come (for
the horses of this region are much esteemed and fetch a
great price, because, apait from the need of them for mili-
tary purposes, the captains and principal lords are in the
habit of carrying their wives about on horses). The other
reason was, that he might ruin the harbour of Baticalá,
which had become very noble through the horse-trade and
the quantity of merchandise which flowed into it from Or-
muz. For he considered that if the horse-trade were estab-
lished in Goa, there would always be in the city from four
to five hundred horses belonging to the merchants which he
could make use of in case of urgency. And in consequence
of the diligence which Afonso Dalboquerque set about this
matter, and because he had ordered that houses in the city

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40 . COMMENTARIES OF

should be given to the principal merchants for the better
arrangement of their merchandise, merchant ships began
immediately to Sock from many quarters to the harbour of
Goa, some coming from Ormuz with horses. And with a
view to improving this state of business, he gave orders for
the construction of some great stables, and organised a ser-
vice of three hundred peons of the district, whose duty it
was to transport grass, hay, and supplies for horses. And
with the object of providing return cargoes for the merchants,
so that they should not be compelled to seek a cargo in any
other port, he commanded the Factor and officials to take
care always to have in the Factory pepper, cloves, and ginger,
and all the other kinds of merchandise which the merchants
were likely to require, and in the clearing papers which, they
delivered with the cargoes whenever the merchants desired
to set sail, it was to be set forth that the ships were to be
bound for Ormuz and to no other port, for it was Afonso
Dalboquerque's desire to destroy the commerce of the
Straits.

In consequence of the liberty which the Moors had of
loading their ships with spices at Goa, all the merchants
came there to settle their trade. And in one of these
ships which brought horses Cogeamir 1 was found, to whom
Afonso Dalboquerque, on the occasion of his taking Goa for
the first time, had given two ships laden with merchandise
to make the voyage to Ormuz. This man was now bring-
ing back horses in exchange for his merchandise, and
when he arrived at India and learned that the Moors of
Goa had risen up against Afonso Dalboquerque, and had
driven him out of the city, he had made his way to Dabul
and gone to make a present of the horses to the Hidalcão.
But when Afonso Dalboquerque was informed that this
man was arrived, he ordered his people to arrest him be-
cause of the treachery he had been guilty of, and with him
1 See vol. ii, p. 110.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 41

was taken also one of his sons, and they were put in chains,
and all their goods seized, among them being twenty -five
horses, which were forthwith put into the Factory.

After having arranged all these matters, Afonso Dalbo-
querque established a chief office wherein could be coined
money of silver, gold, and copper, of the same standard
which had been settled with the people and the merchants
of the city when Goa was captured for the first time. 1 And
with this end in view, he commanded that all the Moorish
money should be brought to the Mint and be stamped with
the dies of the King of Portugal, and he gave to these coins
the same names that they had, as has been declared already. 2
This Mint was farmed out to a Chetim 8 from Baticalá, at the
rent of six hundred thousand reis,* and Álvaro Godinho,
a married householder of Goa, was appointed Treasurer of
the Mint, and all the other offices were filled up with chief
men who were married, with a view to encouraging the
people to many and people the land. 5 For, already at this
time there were in Goa about four hundred and fifty mar-
ried men, all servants of the King, and of the Queen, and
of the Lords of Portugal : and those who desired to marry
were so numerous, that Afonso Dalboquerque could hardly
grant their requests, for he did not give permission except
for the men of proved character to marry. But in order
to favour this work, as it was entirely of his own idea,
and also because they were men of good character, and
had deserved by their good services that this privilege
should be granted to them, he extended the permission to
marry far beyond the powers which had been assigned by
the king D. Manuel, for the women with whom they mar-
ried were the daughters of the principal men of the land.

And he granted this favour, among other reasons, in

» See vol. ii, p. 128. * See vol. ii, pp. 129, 130.

» See vol. ii, p. 130, note 2. * About £125.

* See vol. ii, p. 99.

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42 COMMENTARIES OF

order that when the Hindoos observed what he did for
their daughters, and nieces, and sisters, they might with
better willingness turn Christians ; and for this reason he
would not suffer any of the women to be enslaved, but
ordered that they should all be taken away from the masters
who had possession of them ; and he divided among all the
married ones, the lands, houses, and cattle, and everything
else that there was, to give them a start in life ; and if the
women whom he thus gave in marriage asked for the houses
which had been in possession of their fathers or their hus-
bands, he ordered that these should be so given, and therein
they found many jewels and gold-pieces which had been
hidden underground and abandoned when the city was cap-
tured. And as for the landed property which, according to
information he obtained, had been in possession of the
Moorish mosques and the Hindoo pagodas, he gave them
all to the principal church of the city, which he dedicated
to the protection of Sancta Qathenna, on whose feast-day
Qur Lord had given him the victory over that city. 1 But
in this matter of giving permission for marriages, Afonso
Dalboquerqne experienced much opposition, for there were
many who disapproved of his thus maintaining Goa. The
chief opponents in this were Lourenço Moreno, the Factor
of Cochim, and Antonio Real, Chief Alcaide, and Gaspar
Pereira, and Diogo Pereira, who, not content with meeting
together and taking counsel upon this business, even went
so far as to write to the king D. Manuel, setting forth their
arguments how that the king ought to give orders for its
prevention. And the principal reason they gave, was that
it created many expenses, for they thought that if it were
shown to entail loss of state property the king would be
stirred to more rapid action in this matter.

And Afonso Daiboquerque appointed as captain of the
fortress Rodrigo Rabelo, who was a very brave cavalier ;
1 Sec vol. i, Introduction, p. i.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBBQUE. • 43

and Francisco Pantoja, chief Alcaide ; and Francisco Cor-
vinel, a Florentine by birth, factor. The scriveners of the
Factory were Jofto Teixeira, son of João Paçanha of Alen-
qner (who accompanied Afonso Dalboquerque in the first
capture of Goa), and Vicente da Costa (son of Master Afonso
who had been chief physician to king D. Manuel), married
in Goa. And he laid down rules for the inhabitants of the
city, with regard to the appointment of judges, municipal
officers, 1 and superintendent of weights and measures, 8
every year.

And when all these thiugs have been thus ordained (as
well as others which I omit, to avoid seeming unnecessarily
long), the great Afonso Dalboquerque began to make his
fleet ready, with the intention of not passing the winter in
Ooa, because of the dearth of supplies therein, and because
there was not enough money to pay his men. And he
determined to set forth in that direction where he could be
of most service to the king. And he left four hundred
soldiers to guard the fortress of Goa, and a great quantity
of artillery, both large and small, gunpowder, saltpetre, and
sulphur, and a machine in working-order for making as
much as might be required, and eighty mounted men,
married and settled in Goa. Duarte de Mello was appointed
chief captain of the sea, with four ships and three galleys,
under orders to cruise along the coast and provide the city
with whatever was required ; and when Manuel de Lacerda
should arrive, whom Afonso Dalboquerque would leave to
be chief captain of a fleet in Cochim, with all his powers,
then Duarte de Mello was to obey him as if he were Dalbo-
querque himself. And for payment of all these people and
fleets, he assigned the twelve thousand cruzados which
Merlao had undertaken to pay for the rent of the island.

1 Vereadores.

* Almotaceis: there is an older form, almoçábel; al-mehtasib, Arab.

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44 COMMENTARIES 01

CHAPTER X.

Of the proceedings of the Bendará, Governor of Malaca, when he heard
that Goa had been taken, and of the news which Ray de Araújo,
who was in captivity there, wrote to the great Afonso Dalbo-
querque.

Inasmuch as Goa was very much renowned in all the
parts and kingdoms of India, the news Boon spread through
the merchants of Calicut, informing all the kings how the
great Afonso Dalboquerque had taken the city and driven
the Turks out of it. When this news reached Malaca, the
Bendará who governed the kingdom for the king his nephew,
fearing lest Afonso Dalboquerque should determine to come
to Malaca and exact vengeance for the treason and spolia-
tion which had been practised upon the Portuguese, 1 — with
his accustomed dissimulation and subtlety, — lost no time in
providing his city with quantities of supplies, and went to
Buy de Araújo and the other captives who had been put
into a house and very badly treated, and told them, without
saying anything about the current state of affairs in India,
that the tumult which had arisen against the Portuguese
had not been brought about by his design nor by his orders,
but that the Guzerates and Jaos had planned it without
his knowledge, because they were afraid that the Portu-
guese would treat them badly whenever they went out of
their port, and he further declared that it was his intention
to punish these people severely, because he desired very
much to be on friendly terms with the Portuguese, and to
see them carrying on a trade with Malaca.

When this interview was at an end, the Bendará gave

orders to take the prisoners into a house outside the city,

which was not so dismal as the one they had occupied.

When Ninachatu, a Hindoo resident of Malaca, who had

1 See vol. ii, pp. 73, 74.

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AFONSO DALBOQTJERQUE. 45

frequently performed many good services to our people
daring their captivity, heard this news of the taking of Goa,
he made his way to the Bendará, and told him that if Goa
had been taken by the Portuguese — as the report went — he
was afraid that the Governor of India would desire to come
to the land [of Malaca] to take vengeance for what had
been done therein to the Captain of the King of Portugal ;
and therefore it was his opinion that it would be advisable
to order the liberation of Buy de Araújo and his companions,
and to treat them very kindly, for it might even be that a
time might come when they would be glad to use these men
for mediation. This advice, which Ninachatu gave, pleased
the Bendará, and he gave orders for the release of the
Portuguese, and gave them a house wherein they might
live, and ten thousand calains 1 worth of Cambayan stuffs, of
that which had been taken from the fleet of Diogo Lopez de
Sequeira, 9 to trade with, and support themselves from their
profits, for this was the custom of the king with his slaves ;
and it was signified to them that this property was assigned
to them for their support, but when the Portuguese ships
should arrive, then their accounts should be settled, and all
the loss that they had sustained there should be made good.
This time-serving 3 policy, which the Bendará used in his
dealings with Buy de Araújo and his companions, was not only
the result of the entreaties of Ninachatu, but also because
there was a junk ready to set sail for India, and he wanted
the news to be taken there by it how well he was treating
the Portuguese whom he had captured ; and so said some
Moors, who were his friends, to Buy de Araújo. But they
said also that as soon as the junk had set sail, all that the
Bendará had granted to them would be taken away again,
and they would be again cast into prison, and even if the
Bendará did not do so it would be solely out of fear

1 Calains. The word Calaim signifies a very fine kind of Indian copper.
« See vol. ii, page 74. * Viztude.

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46 COMMENTARIES OF

of what he had heard of the progress of Afonso Dalbo-
querque.

When Buy de Araújo came to know this, he determined
to send word to Afonso Dalboqnerqne of all that had taken
place in Malaca, and arranged his plans with a Moor who
was named Abedalla, 1 and through him he wrote that he
would have Afonso Dalboquerque to know there were nine-
teen Portuguese alive, and the Bendará had tried many
times to force them to tnrn Moors, and did many cruel
things to them on this account, and behaved very cruelly
to them on this account. But the Bendará was in a great
dread, lest he (Afonso Dalboquerque) should make his way
to Malaca, for he was not liked by any of the kings whose
territory was contiguous to his own, and all were obliged to
oppose him because he was a great tyrant and practised
constant robberies upon the merchants who had any inter-
course with that port. And if he (Afonso Dalboquerque)
should make up his mind to go to Malaca, then it ought
only to be with the greatest fleet possible, to the end that
the sea and land both should obey him when they beheld
the great power of the King of Portugal in those regions ;
and if any junk should be captured in their passage for
Malaca, no cruelty onght to be done to the people taken in
them, only they should be kept captive, and on arriving at
the port he ought to send some of them on land with orders
to convey to the Bendará the message that he (Afonso Dal*
boquerque) was not minded to make war upon Malaca nor
to take any of her possessions, provided that the king
would make a treaty of peace and friendship with him, and
deliver up the Christians, and put himself under the orders
of the King of Portugal ; for the Bendará had determined,
directly he should be informed of the arrival of our fleet on
the coast, to send all the captains off immediately four
leagues' distance up into the interior country, until terms
1 Cf. Abedalá, vol. i, p. 121.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUE. * 47

could be arranged, for he was afraid that if they remained
on the spot they would give Afonso Dalboquerque intelli-
gence of many events. But as for past events, after that day
of his misfortunes, and of the departure of Diogo Lopez de
Sequeira from that port, he would not write too minutely,
for all was overwhelmed by the bad treatment they had
received from the Bendará in their captivity up to the
present day. It was true, indeed, that the Bendará had
thought good to give them a home in which they were all
living, and ten thousand calains 1 worth of merchandise,
whereof they were to support themselves by the profits,
declaring that he was ready, on his part, to make good to
them all the loss they had received when Afonso Dalboquer-
que, on his part, should reimburse him for the loss, on the
other hand, which he had experienced from the attacks
made by Portuguese ships on his junks ; and declaring, too,
that he had punished the Guzerates and Jaos who had been
guilty of treason, in such a manner that henceforth they
would never again dare to do so, for (said the Bendará), he
was very desirous of the friendship of the King of Portugal,
and wished to become his vassal. And (Buy de Araújo
continued) as for these things and many more of which he
did not write, as he did not take any notice of them, the
Bendará every day made a thousand excuses ; but he him-
self, and all his fellow captains with him, begged him
(Afonso Dalboquerque), for the love of God, to keep them
in remembrance, and rescue them out of this captivity, and
to cause to be given to the Moor, the bearer of the letter,
twenty cruzados out of his effects, for he had lent it to the
captives to buy food, and to show him kindness; for, besides
his always helping them and accompanying them, he had
consented, with very little persuasion, to undertake the
journey, seeing that he ran a very great risk of his life if
he had been discovered, but he trusted in the kindness

" See p. 45.

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48 COMMENTARIES OF

which Afonso Dalboquerque would shew him for it; and
that Ninachatu took the opportunity to beg him, of his great
kindness, that he would not let the Moors of Cochim know
what he had done for the captives in Malaca, for he feared
lest they should write to the Bendará and do him an injury
for it ; for it was Ninachatu who had given the captives an
opportunity of writing, and of despatching the Moor with
the letter; but if it were so disposed that his Lordship,
Afonso Dalboquerque, could not possibly get to Malaca by
any reasonable manner, then that he would send them word
of it as secretly as he could, before the Moors could get in-
telligence of the impossibility of his going, for he trusted
that Our Lord would grant them a means of going from
that to some other place safe and free to make their way
back again to India.

CHAPTER XI.

How the Captains of the Fleet of Diogo Mendez requested him to
set out for Malaca ; and of what passed with them, and how he
begged Afonso Dalboquerque to grant him permission to go ; and
of the reasons wherefore it was not granted.

The captains of the fleet of Diogo Mendes, seeing that
the fortress of Goa was quite finished, and the affairs of the
city continuing to become more and more in order, and
being desirous of performing their voyage, went to him and
declared to him that their ships were those of merchants
who had struck a contract with the king D. Manuel, to go
to Malaca, and take in a cargo, and that up to that present
time there had always been some excuse for the delay of
their setting sail because the monsoon had not yet come ;
but now that they were having this wind, and the business
of Goa was finished, in which, indeed, all had served the
king very well, they ought to proceed.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 49

Diogo Mendes replied to them that he liked their advice
very much, but it was necessary to give an account of the
proposed starting to Afonso Dalboquerque, not only as a
compliment, but in order that the opportunity might be
taken to get him to supply the ships with some things which
were necessary for that voyage, and they had given their
fealty to him, and could not sail out of that port with his
licence. 1 Dinis Cerniche, like a foreigner, and one who had
more regard for his profit than for his honour, replied that
those compliments might be dispensed with, for in the
contract which the merchants made with the king he had
therein given them exemption from the jurisdiction of Afonso
Dalboquerque and all other governors of India. But in-
asmuch as Diogo Mendez was an experienced man, although
in this matter he erred in what he did by advice of the
captains, masters, and pilots of his fleet, dismissing from
his mind the arguments advanced by Dinis Cerniche, he went
to Afonso Dalboquerque and told him that while they were
in Cananor he, Afonso Dalboquerque, had said that on the
completion of the Goa undertaking, and on arrival of the
time of the monsoon, permission should be accorded for his
departure to Malaca, and he would give him everything
that he required for his voyage ; and that as Our Lord had
given him the city thus gained with so much honours for
himself, and he, Diogo Mendez, was no longer required
there, therefore he begged him very much of his kindness
to dispatch him, and give him licence to set forth, for when
he looked into the conditions whereby the merchants had
contracted with the king, he found he could not put any
hindrance in the way of their performing their voyage, but
on the other hand his captains would murder him if he did
not go ; and they made every day formal requisitions to
him that they might set out, but he did not wish to do so
without Afonso Dalboquerque's consent.
1 See vol. ii, pp. 232, 233.

VOL. III. E

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50 COMMENTARIES OF

Afonso Dalboquerque replied that it was true he had
promised at Cananor to dispatch him directly the business
of Goa was completed ; but when he had made that promise
he was not aware of the condition in which the affairs of
Malaca were, and that it was but a few days since he had
received a letter from Ruy de Araújo, giving him an account
of the state of that country, and declaring that in case he
had to navigate to those parts it must be with so powerful
a fleet that everything should yield to it ; and when he con-
sidered this, and saw in how difficult a position the affairs
of Malaca were placed, 1 he must beg him of his kindness
not to be desirious of risking his vessels and the people
he had brought with him, for should any disaster happen to
them both would have to bear the blame, since it was plain,
from what had happened to Diogo Lopez de Sequeira, 2 that
they could not open up any commerce with Malaca except
by exchange of lance-thrusts, 8 and this could not be effected
by four rotten ships and two rusty swords. And there were
two reasons why he could not help him with his soldiers and
his fleet : — the first, because affairs at Goa were, as he could
see for himself, in so delicate a condition ; the second, that
there was news of the coming of the Rumes, which had set
the whole of India in an uproar ; but when these disturb-
ances were over he promised he would help him, as he had
already promised. After many conversations with Afonso
Dalboquerque, who was determined not to grant him per-
mission to go, Diogo Mendez took leave of him discon-
tented, and when he arrived at his ship the captains came
on board to hear what had taken place, except Baltezar da
Silva, who remained behind ill at Cananor. Diogo Mendez
gave them an account of what had been said by Afonso

1 Os negócios de Alaldca estarem de má desistão. The latter word is
equivalent to digestão, and the phrase signifies u of a hard, indigestible,
untractable character". * See vol. ii, pp. 81, 78, 74.

* A troco de lançadas. There is here a play on the word troco, which
also signifies " exchange'' in a commercial sense.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 51

Dalboquerque, and with this reply all came to the deter-
mination of setting oat without making any further demand
for permission to do so.

CHAPTER XII.

How Diogo Mendez, by the advice of his captains, hoisted sail to pass
over the bar, and the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent after him,
and they made him turn back, and the rest which took place.

Now inasmuch as the captains were ill pleased because
the great Afonso Dalboquerque had denied them the per-
mission to depart which Diogo Mendez had begged of him,
and as they held firm to their opinion that he could neither
demand their submission to his orders nor could they profess
it to him, because they had come out under exemption from
the orders of the Governor of India, they therefore de-
termined to set their sails and shape their course in a
straight line for Malaca. And because they had some nfis-
giving about sailing out over the bar at night, Manuel Pirez,
who held the office of pilot and captain of Baltezar da Silva's
ship, declared that he could lead all the vessels out over the
bar, even if it were at midnight, and could take them to
Malacca, and return to Portugal without touching at India
at all on the return journey.

At this declaration made by Manuel Pirez, immediately
on the fall of night all set their sails except Pero Goresma,
who was not in this plot and kept quietly aloof. Now
Manuel Pirez, whose vessel could sail very well on a bow-
line, found no difficulty in sailing at once right over the bar,
but the others kept on tacking until the morning broke.
As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque was informed that Diogo
Mendez had gone off, he immediately sent after him Duarte
da Silva and James Teixeira in two galleys, and Manuel de
Lacerda along the shore with a party of mounted men, to

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52 COMMENTARIES OF

make their way to the bar and take up and get into any
boats that might be there, and force him to stop ; and he
gave instructions both to one party and the other, that
in case the fugitives would not give heed to this, their com-
mand, then they were to sink them all.

On coming up with Diogo Mendez, James Teixeira re-
quired him, on behalf of Afonso Dalboquerque, to return,
but the former, who was still fully resolved to go, would
not yield when called upon to do so. So when James
Teixeira perceived that he would not pay any attention to
the commands of Afonso Dalboquerque, he called out to
Martim Afonso, who was the pilot of the fugitive vessel, to
give orders for taking in their sails, but he replied that only
if Diogo Mendez, who was properly his chief captain, should
order him to do so would he do it. So perceiving that
neither by fair nor by foul means could he prevail upon
Diogo Mendez to return, he aimed a shot at him, high up
over the rigging, and then ordered another shot to be fired ;
but at this juncture there arrived Duarte da Silva in the
other galley, and fired a shot at the fugitive ship and struck
her on the halliards, and down fell the main yard all at once.

When Diogo Mendez perceived that his mainsail was
disabled, he signalled to the others to take in their sails,
and he let go his anchor. As soon as Manuel Pirez saw
that the flagship of this fleet had struck her sails, he came
up alongside of her and asked Diogo Mendez for further
instructions; and he replied that all he could do was to
shorten sail, and then they must all go back and pay the
penalty for what they had done, in accordance with the
advice given by him and the other captains. And while the
matter was in this state Pero Dalpoem, Auditor of India,
came up in a paráo, and when Manuel de Lacerda saw him
he proceeded to unite with him, and they took Diogo Mendez
and all the other captains, pilots, and masters, and carried
them back as prisoners to the city.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 53

Afonso Dalboquerque, who had already received intelli-
gence of the progress of the affair by a messenger, whom
Manuel de Lacerda had despatched by land, caused Diogo
Mendez to be brought into his presence, and told him that
he was exceedingly astonished* to think that he should thus
break the word of honour which he had given, and disobey
his captain-general before all the ambassadors of the kings
and lords of India, who were in that place, by the advice of
four lunatics 1 in his fleet, when it had been already decided
that it was not advantageous to the service of the king
that he should be permitted to go to Malaca. And Diogo
Mendez replied that he had done this,' not with the inten-
tion of acting disobediently towards him, but because his
honour had compelled him to do as he had done, for he>
being a man accustomed to very great deeds, had been
sent out, like an ordinary esquire, with two boats to rein-
force the Island of Chorão, 2 upon which the Turks had made
a descent.

Afonso Dalboquerque told him that that was not a valid
excuse, for no honourable man who was a cavalier like him-
self would think of feeling dishonoured at being ordered to
fight for the service of his king, and he reminded him that
he had despatched on that same expedition to Chorão Manuel
de Lacerda, the chief captain of the king's fleet, with other
boats, and he had not thought it any affront to be engaged
in it. And, he continued, this affair was very serious, and
of such a character that he should not be performing his
duty if he failed to visit it with its just punishment, which
he for his part intended to carry out to the full ; and there
and then he sent him under arrest to the keep of the castle. 8
And as for the other captains, pilots, and masters, he

1 Sandeos.

* One of the many islands that lie near that of Goa, and make up the
Goa territory.

* A torre de menagem. See vol. i, p. 45.

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54 COMMENTARIES OF

ordered them to be put into chains, and in solitary confine-
ment, and gave orders to Pero Dalpoem to draw up, as
briefly and quickly as he might, a formal account of this
affair, for there were in Goa at that time ambassadors of the
king of Narsinga and of other kings of India, who had wit-
nessed the disobedience which had been shown to Afonso
Dalboquerque ; and he did not wish that they should depart
without first of all observing the punishment which he should
visit upon them in consequence.

And when the final inquiry had been made, and all was
drawn up, Afonso Dalboquerque commanded that all the
captains should be summoned ; and, having taken notice of
the charges brought against them by the Auditor, it was
adjudged that Diogo Mendez be sent back in disgrace to
Portugal, to appear and answer to the acts of accusation for
his misdeeds in person before the king D. Manuel, and
Pero Coresma was also to be sent back in disgrace to
Portugal, although he was not in the plot, because he did
not divulge the intended flight of Diogo Mendez ; and Dinis
Cerniche was condemned to be put to death by decapita-
tion, and Martim Afonso, chief pilot, and Manuel Pirez, pilot
and captain of the ship of Baltezar da Silva, and Diogo
Fernandez, master of Dinis Cerniche's ship, all three to be
imprisoned in their ships, of which they were but lately
masters and pilots ; and these sentences upon them were
carried out forthwith that very day ; and when Afonso Dal-
boquerque ordered the execution of Dinis Cerniche to be
carried out, the ambassadors of the King of Narsinga came
and begged him to forgive him, which he did, commuting
this punishment into transportation to Portugal in disgrace,
there to answer in person the formal charges of misdeeds
brought against him.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 55

CHAPTER XIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail for the Straits of Meca
with his fleet, and finding he could not cross the shoals of Padua,
stood off Goa and made his way direct to Malaca.

Although the king D. Manuel had very often written to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque to go up the Straits of the
Bed Sea and erect a fortress in Adem, the affairs of Goa
occupied so much of his time and thoughts that he never
yet had any opportunity before now of taking this enter-
prise in hand. And although the letter which Buy de
Araújo wrote concerning the state of affairs at Malaca had
greatly embarrassed him in his proceedings (as has already
been related), nevertheless, trnsting to the mercy of God,
he made up his mind to proceed to the Straits and ac-
complish the desires of the king D. Manuel ; and having his
fleet ready with men, supplies, arms, artillery, and every-
thing else that was required for the undertaking of this
enterprise (leaving Goa in good order), he set out, but
when he had made his course so far forward as the shoals
of Padua, 1 and found that he could not get beyond them be-
cause the season was now so far advanced, he put back again
into harbour, and came to an anchor with all his fleet over
against the bar of Goa, and after having dropped anchor,
he ordered Bodrigo Babelo, captain of the city, to be sum-
moned, and told him that on account of the adverse state
of the weather, and because the monsoon of the Straits and
Ormuz was already gone by, and there was no longer
any opportunity of navigating to those parts, it was his in-
tention to go and winter at Malaca and see if he could in
any way chastise the Malays for the treason which they had
practised upon Diogo Lopez de Sequeira; therefore he

1 See the Bfaixos] de Padua, 13 deg. N. lat., on Fernão Vaz Dourndo'g
Map of India, vol. ii, p. 1.

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56 COMMENTARIES OP

greatly commended to him the charge of taking care of the
city, for the city was always the uppermost thought of his
heart, 1 dreading lest the Hidalcão should attack it again ;
and from that port he went on to Oananor, and leaving the
fortress provided with more men than it had, he set out
again for Cochim.

As soon as the king learned that Afonso Dalboquerque
was on the bar, he lost no time in visiting him on board his
vessel, and gave him a long list of reasons why he ought
not to go to Malaca, for, he said, the affairs of Goa were
still in so critical a state, that it required him personally to
control them ; and in addition to this, the Çamorim of Cali-
cut was in such a state of disaffection, that he for his part
should not be surprised if he broke out into open treason
directly he heard of his departure from India. But although
this statement by the King of Cochim had a great show of
reason in it, yet in it he did not express his own sentiments,
but the design of causing Afonso Dalboquerque to abandon
his voyage to Malaca was conceived by the advice of Chiri-
namercar and Mamalemercar, two Moorish merchants, men
full of all kinds of evil and worthless designs.

Now the principal cause of their giving this counsel was,
that they feared lest Afonso Dalboquerque should capture
the ships which they had sent to Malaca; and if Malaca
were taken, they would be left without any means of trading
in the whole of that archipelago, from Cape Comorim east-
wards, for they were the richest merchants in the whole of
Malabar. And although Afonso Dalboquerque clearly per-
ceived that those merchants had deceived the poor king in
persuading him to turn aside from the course he really
wished to pursue, yet because the king was friendly to us,
Afonso Dalboquerque dissembled with him and pretended
not to see through the plot, and told him that his mind was
now quite made up to accomplish that voyage, because the
1 Porque a levava atravesada na garganta.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBEQUE. 57

season would not permit of his passing over to the Straits
in accordance with the orders he had received from the
king D. Manuel, his lord ; but, he said he trusted in God
that the king of Oochim would very soon hear news of how
thoroughly he had taken vengeance for the treason which
had been practised in that city of Malaca upon the Portu-
guese ; and that Goa was in so strong a condition that he
should not be afraid even if all the power of the Hidalcao
were brought to bear against the city.

When this conversation was over which Afonso Dalboquer-
que held with the king, he took his leave of him, and sent
for Manuel de Lacerda, whom he found there, and because
his fleet was but small he reinforced him with four small
ships more, and two large ships, men, and munitions of
war, with instructions that in the month of August he was
to proceed to unite with the other ships which he would
then find cruising off the bar of Goa; and he gave him
also plenary jurisdiction over all the other captains who
should come there, that they should obey him, as though he
represented Afonso Dalboquerque in person; and he was
always to cruise along that coast in order to be able to
render assistance if the affairs of Goa required it; and
then Afonso Dalboquerque dismissed him to get his fleet in
readiness, while he himself gave orders to his captains to
lift their cables and set sails.

CHAPTER XIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque set sail from Cochim, and made
his way direct to Malaca, and of what passed thereupon.

The great Afonso Dalboquerque, having thus taken his
leave of the King of Cochim and dispatched Manuel de
Lacerda, who was to remain behind as chief captain of that
coast, set sail with all his fleet, which consisted of eighteen

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58 COMMENTARIES OF

sailiug vessels, three of which were galleys. The captains
were — D. João de Lima ; Fernão Telez Dandrade ; Gaspar
de Paiva; James Teixeira; Bastiam de Miranda; Aires
Pereira ; Jorge Nunes de Lião ; Dinis Fernandez de Melo,
chief Patrão; Pêro Dalpoem, Auditor of India; Antonio
Dabreu ; Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco ; Simão Dandrade ;
Duarte da Silva ; Simão Martinz ; Afonso Pessoa ; Simão
Afonso; and Jorge Botelho ; and, proceeding on their way,
when they had got as far forward as Ceilão (Ceylon), they
caught sight of a ship.

Afonso Dalboquerque gave orders to chase her, and they
took her, and he was very glad to find it belonged to the
Guzerates, as he felt his voyage would now be carried out
safely, for the Guzerates understand the navigation of those
parts much more thoroughly than any other nations, on ac-
count of the great commerce they carry on in those places.
And while the fleet was in this latitude a storm arose, during
which the galley which was commanded by Captain Simão
Martinz, was lost; for, without his knowledge, the ship
had been loaded with copper, and she sprung a leak at the
prow, and the force of the storm drove her over on her side,
and she foundered, but all the people were saved, for Duarte
da Silva stood by the ship in his great galley, which was
all ready for the emergency. And when all the men had
been brought off the wreck, Afonso Dalboquerque led the
whole fleet, and brought up at anchor in the harbour of
Pedir, 1 having in his company five Guzerate vessels which
he had captured on the voyage.

And there he found João Viegas and eight Christians of
the company of Buy de Araújo, who had arrived thus far in
their flight from the city of Malaca, and João Viegas re-
counted to him how the King of Malaca had endeavoured
to force them to become Moors, and had ordered some of

1 A harbour on the northern coast of the Island of Sumatra, 5 deg. 24
inin. N. lat., 96 deg. 4 min. £. long., a little to the east of Acheen.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 59

them to be tied hand and foot and circnmcised ; and they
had suffered many torments because they would not deny
the faith of Jesus Christ. And one night, when they were
all ready to flee away, they were discovered, and B-uy
Daraujo and those who were now with him were left behind,
because that they were unable to escape. And he declared
further that with the King of Pace there was a principal
Moor of Malaca whose name was Naodabegea, 1 who had been
the chief author of the treason which had been plotted
against Diogo Lopez de Sequeira ; and this man had fled
from Malaca because he and the Bondará, whom the king
killed, had laid a plan to kill the king and take possession
of the kingdom.

On hearing this news Afonso Dalboquerque immediately
took his leave of the King of Pedir, and made his way to
Pace, 2 which is the principal port of the Island of Samatra,
and as soon as he arrived there he sent João Viegas to pay
him a visit, and to declare to him that it had come to the
knowledge of Afonso Dalboquerque that in the city of Paca
there was a Moor who was fleeing from Malacca who was
implicated in the attempt to murder certain Portuguese,
who belonged to some ships which the King of Portugal, his
lord, had sent to the port of the city of Malaca, and that

1 The Edition of 1576 reads Naodabegea, that of 1774, Maodabegea;
but from the recurrence of the name on p. 62 there can be no doubt that
this latter is a typographical error. For the meaning of the first part
of this word, see vol. i, p. 227.

* Pace, a harbour a little to the east of Pedir, on the northern coast
of the Island of Sumatra. Barretto de Resende gives " Passen" and
" Porto de Passen" in Pedro Berthelot's map dated 1635, in the Sloan. MS.
197, fo. 390, on this site. K. Johnston, in the " Royal Atlas", spells the
place " Passier" and " Pasier", and assigns the position of 5 deg. 2 min.
K, 97 deg. 10 min. E. to the former ; and that of 5 deg. 10 min. N.,
97 deg. 22 min. E. to the latter place. There can be no doubt that this
is a mistake. The spelling adopted by Berthelot is an illustration of
the peculiar nasality introduced into the sound of final vowels by the
Portuguese.

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60 COMMENTARIES OF

he begged him of his goodness to cause this Moor to be de-
livered over to him.

The King of Pace replied that it was quite true that the
Moor had been there, but at present he had no news of him,
but he would cause very diligent search to be made after
him, and when he was found he would hand him over to
Afonso Dalboquerque. And when the king had sent this
reply to Afonso Dalboquerque he advised the Moor to go
straight at once to Malaca and give the king notice of the
approach of the Portuguese, for when he heard this news he
would pardon him, and reinstate him in his good favour.
As soon as the king had arranged this he sent to Afonso
Dalboquerque to say that he had ordered search to be made
for the Moor but he could not be found, and he thought he
must have fled away, for he could not learn any news of him
anywhere throughout the city. But as Afonso Dalboquerque
perceived that all this was deception on the part of the king
he would not hold any further communications with him,
but, not breaking off his friendship, he sailed away.

CHAPTER XV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque Bet sail from the port of Pace, and
at sea he sighted a sailing vessel which was carrying the Moor
who was flying from him, and how he sent after the vessel, and
what further took place.

As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had taken his departure
from the King of Pace he ordered the fleet to set sail, and
in this manner so sailing along all together with a favourable
wind, they caught sight of a pangajaoa. 1 This is the name

1 The latter part of this word is clearly the Portuguese fern. adj.
for Javanese. The Pangajaoa was a sort of boat impelled by oars.
Bluteau calls the Pangajoa a kind of rowing boat, used in India. It
appears to be different from the Pangaio, a sort of small boat composed

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 61

of a kind of long vessel, very fast sailing, used in that
country ; and as the wind had dropped by this time, and
Aires Pereira, captain of the Taforea, was nearest to it,
Afonso Dalboquerque signalled to him to give chase. Aires
Pereira got into his boat with some soldiers and set out in
pursuit. And the Moors who were on board of the vessel
defended themselves with so much spirit that they wounded
Aires Pereira and a considerable number of his people with-
out their being able to get in.

Not content with thus defending his vessel the captain,
although he was severely wounded, leaped down to Aires
Pereira in his boat, and they fought with cuts and blows
at each other, and there was at length despatched; and
then our people boarded the pangajaoa and put to death
all the Moors who sought to make any defence, and took
seven or eight prisoners, and gathered themselves together
again in their boat, and there they found the Moorish captain
half dead, without any blood flowing from the numerous
wounds he had received.

Aires Pereira commanded the mariners to throw him into
the sea just as he was ; but when they perceived that he was .
richly clothed, they sought first of all to strip him, and then
they found on his left arm a bracelet of bone, set in gold,
and when they took this off all his blood flowed away and
he expired. Aires Pereira was so surprised at this that he
took the bracelet and the captive Moors to Afonso Dalbo-
querque, and recounted to him all that had passed, and
Afonso Dalboquerque inquired of the Moors who that Cap-

of boards tied together with cords only. u Navigium Fangaio, e levi et
raro ligno constructum, non nisi f uni bus colligatum est, nullo omnino
clavo férreo infixo" (Hist. Ind. Orient., p. 220). Camões calls it sutil,
" lightly skimming", in the line —

" Os Pangayos sutis da bruta gente." — i, 92.

Although narrow and lightly built, the Pangaio is capable of carrying a
considerable burden.

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62 COMMENTARIES OP

tain was, and what was the use of that bracelet to him
which he wore ; and they replied that he was a principal
Moor of Malaca, whose name was Naodabeguea, 1 and he was
on his way to warn the king of the coming of the Portu-
guese, and the bracelet was formed of the bones of certain
animals which were called cabals, 2 that are bred in the
mountain ranges of the kingdom of Siam, and the person
who carries those bones so that they touch his flesh can
never lose his blood, however many wounds he may receive,
so long as they are kept on him. Afonso Dalboquerque
was much moved at the death of the Moors from whom he
had hoped to obtain information concerning the state of
affairs at Malaca, and he prized the bracelet very much
for its virtues, and kept it to send it to the king D.
Manuel.

When Aires Pereira had returned into his own ship, the
whole fleet went back along the coast in the same order as
they had first come, and when they were in the latitude of
the Powder Island 8 they sighted two very large junks, and
gave chase to them. One of these, which was from Choro-
mandel, 4 struck immediately ; ttie other, from Jaoa, 6 would
not do so; Afonso Dalboquerque therefore ordered Pero
Dalpoem to go up close and call upon her to surrender, and
if she would not do so, then to attack her at close quarters ;
and as it happened that, in the act of boarding the junk,
our own men were closely pressed, the Javanese wounded

1 Called Maodabegea, on p. 59, n.

• Cabais. Jofio de Barros, in Decad., ii, f. 139, col. 23, relates a
similar circumstance to this here described ; no description of this
fabulous creature is recorded by Bluteau, who mentions the pass-
age.

* Polvoreira, shown in Barretto de Resende's copy of Pedro Berthe-
lot's map as Polverera, an island in the Straits of Malaca. MS. Sloan,
197, f. 390; Keith Johnston does not mention it.

4 Coromandel, or Karimanal, Madras Presidency, 13 deg. 24 min. N.,
80 deg. 19 min. E. » Java.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 63

several of the men with arrows, and hampered the gear of
the mizen-sail 1 and the bowsprit. 2

When Pero Dalpoem perceived that his rigging was thus
destroyed, he disengaged his ship from the junk, and drew
off from her. But Afonso Dalboquerque, who was the
nearest to him, as soon as he saw Pero Dalpoem disengaging
himself, drew up close and demanded the surrender of the
junk, which was about six hundred tons burden, very well
supplied with arms, and carrying three hundred fighting
men on board ; and fearing lest her men should set her on
fire as soon as he had grappled her — a custom which the
Javanese have when they find themselves overcome by the
enemies — Afonso Dalboquerque ordered the master 3 of his
ship to take the ship's boat, ready with a cable through the
ship's hawses, 4 with orders to the effect that he was to
arrange so as to be able to cast off the cable whenever he
wished, if the Javanese should set fire to the ship.

When this had been set in order, Afonso Dalboquerque
drew up close alongside the junk and began to fire into her
with his bombards ; and as the enemy would not even yet
yield, although there were already forty of them killed and
a great number of the others wounded, he got ready to
board her. As soon as the Javanese perceived that they
were overpowered by the ship, the Fhr de la Mar, which
was built with very lofty castles, they set fire to the junk.

1 Traquete. Jal interprets this rightly as the Voiie de misaine, or mizen
sail ; it was also called the traquete davante. Moraes wrongly defines it
to be a vela do mastro mais alto do navio. It is the trinchetto of the
Italians. Bluteau calls it the " Vela pequena, atada à peça mais alta do
mastro grande"

1 Goroupes ; also gouroupêz and gurupés.

• Mestre, probably mate, through Maitre, Fr.

4 Esconvés, an indeclinable plural, sometimes written escovéns and
escouves. Jal quotes the passage in more than one place in his Glossaire
Nautique, as escouves ; but the misprint of esconves, if it is one, is found
in the early edition, as well as the later one, of the Commentaries. The
word appears to be derived from excubim, Lat. ; êcubier, Fr.

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64 COMMENTARIES OP

It was not until the flames reached the ship that Afonso
Dalboquerque gave orders to the mate to unhook his ship
and cast off from the junk, and draw away out from between
the vessels. The Javanese no sooner observed the shadow
of the towering ship passing away from over them, than
they set to work to extinguish the fire in their own vessel,
but as it had by this time become very extensive, they could
only do so, with very great difficulty, and this compelled
them to surrender.

The junk having now surrendered, Afonso Dalboquerque
discovered that the King of Pace was on board, and so he
sent for him, and when he saw him he begged his pardon
very earnestly for this unfortunate affair which should not
have happened if he had known of his Royal Highness being
on board, and he showed him those ceremonies and that
good treatment which is due to a personage of such dignity ; •
and when he had entertained him and taken care for some
of his servants who had got badly wounded in the fight,
the king gave him an account of his misfortune, setting
forth how he was on his way to the King of Java, who was
his relative, to ask his assistance with soldiers and a fleet
against one of his governors who had risen up in rebellion
with the kingdom against him, but if he, Afonso Dalbo-
querque, would undertake this enterprise and reseat him in
his estate again, then he would become a vassal of the King
of Portugal, and pay him tribute.

Afonso Dalboquerque, considering that the trade of Pace*
would be of great importance to Malaca, if he took it, on
account of the great quantity of pepper that the Island
contains, told him that he was now engaged on an expedi-
tion for settling accounts with the King of Malaca for an
injustice which he had done to a captain of the King of
Portugal his lord, who had reached that port under the
royal safeguard, but when this had been completed he would
promise that upon his return voyage to India he would

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 65

replace him in the possession of his kingdom. The king
thanked him very much for his promises of assistance, and
declared he would remain there in the ship with him, and
ordered those who were in the junk to follow him. And
when the fleet was now close to Malaca, Nuno Vaz de
Castelo-Branco captured a very rich junk which had just
sailed out of the port, bound for the kingdom of Siam, and
from the Moors who were taken in her Afonso Dalboquerque
learned that Buy Daraujo and the Portuguese of his com-
pany were alive, and that the king already knew of his
coming.

So numerous were the ships that they passed on that
voyage, that had it not been Afonso Dalboquerque' s deter-
mination to go to Malaca, they could have taken the largest
prize that was ever beheld in those parts ; for it was just
the time of the monsoon when the Moors navigate to the
kingdoms of India which lie to the east of Cape Comorim,
but during the other monsoon they make their way direct
to the Straits of Meca, laden with all sorts of different
spices which are brought to Malaca. But inasmuch as
Afonso Dalboquerque desired to have secure peace and
friendship with all the kings and Hindoo lords who have
their territories on the South, and to trade in their ports —
as the King D. Manuel had ordered that the commerce of
Malaca should not be destroyed, — he treated all the ships
which he passed on the way with good will and entertain-
ment, and to their captains he shewed every kindness in the
name of the king of Portugal, and gave them safe conducts,
enabling them to navigate— provided they did not go to the
Straits — and at this they were very well pleased.

VOL, III.

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66 COMMENTARIES OF

CHAPTER XVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque reached the port of Malaca, and
the king sent immediately to visit him, and the rest that took
place.

When the great Afonso Dalboquerque had taken the
king of Pace into his ship, he continued his course and
sailed up to the shoals of Capacia 1 , and entered the twelve
fathom passage, and reached the harbour of Malaca one day
at evening with all his fleet decked with flags, and the men
sounding their trumpets, and ordered them to salute the city
with all the artillery, and proceeded to cast anchor in front
of the harbour. And when the fleet had thus anchored,
the king immediately sent a Moor with a message to Afonso
Dalboquerque, asking what was the object of so great a
fleet ; whether he came for war or for peace, for he did not
wish for anything else than peace with the king of Portugal ;
and giving him to know that his Bendará had been put to
death by his orders on account of his complicity in the
rising which had taken place against the Portuguese cap-
tain (Diogo Lopez de Sequeira) who had come to that port,
and resulted in the murder of the Christians who were in
the land, but this was no fault of his.

Afonso Dalboquerque listened to this artful apology, and
dissembled with him, in hopes of getting Buy de Araújo
and the other Christians who were there in his power again,
so he replied that he was well aware how little the king of
Malaca was to blame in the matter of the treachery shown
to the captain of the king his lord, and now that the king
had at length avenged the death of the Christians whom the
Bendará had put to death, by cutting off his head, he begged
he would of his favour cause those who were left alive to bo

1 In the Straits of Malaca, to the north of the city.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 67

delivered up, and pay, oat of the property of the Bendará,
for all the goods which had been seized.

The king lost no time in sending the Moor back to
declare to Afonso Dalboquerque that they should make
peace first, and then he would send back the Christians and
make satisfaction for all that had been taken. Afonso
Dalboquerqne replied that he would not make peace until
the Christians had been sent back and all the king's pro-
perty restored, according to the terms of his first answer
sent through the same Moor, and when he had received
everything, there would be time to talk of peace, for this
was what the king his lord desired, and it was for this
object that the King of Portugal had sent him thither, for
this fleet had not come in search of a cargo, but to make
war upon the king of Malaca, if he would not come to
terms of peace with the king his lord.

Notwithstanding all this, the king still refused to deliver
up Buy de Araújo and the Christians without first making
peace, for he thought by this means to curb the spirit of
Afonso Dalboquerque ; but he, on his part, determined not
to come to any terms until the Christians were first of all
restored to him, as well as all the property which had been
detained, and so these negotiations went on from one side
to the other until the king of Malaca began to put into
practice some of his artifices, and ordered a fleet of
launches 1 to issue out of the river, and when they had
made a good muster with men and artillery they withdrew
again ; with these trickeries 2 and follies they thought to get
the advantage of Afonso Dolboquerque, but he put up with
everything in hopes of getting Buy de Araújo into his

1 Lancharas.

» Biocos, a word employed chiefly in the phrase andar a biocos, said
of women that walk about with a cloak that covers the greater part of
their faces and one eye, so that they can see other people without being
known.

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68 COMMENTARIES OF

hands again, for he remembered how the Viceroy had sent
him in company with Diogo Lopez de Seqneira in disgrace
to Malaca, on his account. 1 And being informed by Ruy
de Araújo that the king was causing certain stockades
of very great strength to be erected along the seaboard,
Afonso Dalboquerque sent word to the King of Malaca to
say, that it did not look like a sign of good friendship when
he would not send back his Portuguese but ordered the
erection of stockades, like one who rather desired war than
peace ; and how differently, he said, had the king of Pace
behaved to him, for as soon as his port was reached he
immediately sent back nine Portuguese who had got away
so far in their flight from the bondage in which he, the king
of Malaca, had held them ; but it seemed, indeed, as if
there was no arriving at any settlement with him. The
king, in spite of all these arguments, still determined not
to surrender the Christians without first of all making a
treaty of peace.

Afonso Dalboquerque saw through this design of the
king; and in order that he should not think that he had
produced any effect by this display of launches in the river
which were making a great show there every day according
to the king's orders, he decided to undeceive him, and so he
gave orders that an expedition of four boats well armed
with fighting men and artillery should be got ready, and
make their way along the bank and throw some shots from
their bombards into the city. When the Moors perceived
the boats setting out from the ships, they came out to wait
for them, beyond the river's mouth, in a fleet of twenty
pangajaoas, armed with many men. No sooner had Afonso
Dalboquerque perceived them than he ordered a number of
boats to be sent to reinforce the four first sent. This dis-
concerted the Moors, who observed the movement, and

1 For the circumstances concerning the carrying of Ray de Araújo to
Malaca, see vol. ii, p. 45.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 69

withdrew themselves back again into the river with their fleet.
And when they had retired the king again sent the accus-
tomed messages, full of deceit and specious words and false-
hoods, to Afonso Dalboquerque.

And Afonso Dalboquerque again listened to them with
great patience, always hoping to avoid having recourse to
war, and explaining to the king how his coming to Malaca
was for the preservation of the port, and for the making of
a treaty and ratiying friendship with him, and by no means
for the purpose of destroying him. But as there were
Moors of many races in the city, all of whom were anxious
to prevent a peaceable solution of this matter — to the end
that our people should not get a footing in the land — they
led the king to believe that Afonso Dalboquerque would
never dare to attack the city, but as soon as the monsoon
should spring up he would have to be gone without waiting
any longer. And a similar thought was in the minds of his
own captains. Those who most laboured to prevent peace
being made were the Guzarates, for all the trade of Cam-
bava lies at Malaca, and they offered to help the king with
six hundred whites, all well armed, and forty bombards.

And besides all these designs which the king entered
into, with the aid of the Moors both native and foreign, Ruy
de Araújo sent word to Afonso Dalboquerque that the
stockades were fast approaching completion, and the king
was making ready for his defence ; and the Turks, Guza-
rates, Rumes, and Ooraçones were the principal ones
who were advising him to make no agreement, but to for-
bid our people to make any settlement in the land ; and in
order to carry out their designs they were giving large
bribes to the king and his governors ; and they had also on
their side the Cacizes, 1 who made long harangues to him,

1 Cacizes, priests whose duty was to recount with dramatic vehemence
in high places, and public concourses, the circumstances of the death of
the Prophet.

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70 COMMENTARIES OP

declaring that the Portuguese were renegades and thieves,
desirous of lording over the whole world, and that he would
be sorry for it if he allowed them to come into the city.
And Euy de Araújo went on to say that the Xabandar 1 of the
Guzarates, who was the mainstay of all the merchants of
Cambaya — a man of great credit with the king — had gone
to the king and begged him very earnestly not to make
friendship with the Portuguese nor come to any terms of
peace with them, for their ships and those of the Moors
could not navigate in one and the same course in one and
the same monsoon, neither could they take in their cargoes
all together in the same port, for, if this was a matter of
keen competition, even when all engaged were of one nation,
how much more difficult would those things be, seeing that
these on the one hands were Moors, and the Portuguese,
on the other hand, Christians, desirous to destroy them and
procuring the destruction of them all ; and the Xabandar
declared that he gave him this advice because he was very
desirous of doing him a service, and preserving the king-
dom ; and he ought to temporize with the chief captain of
that (Portuguese) fleet, and keep up negotiations with him,
for when the monsoon should come, he could not remain
there any longer.

The king was well pleased with the advice given by the
Xabandar, and discussed it all with his governors, and they
all were of opinion that such a policy should be carried out ;
therefore he ordered that his fleet should be repaired imme-
diately, to the end that it might be prepared for anything
that might happen, and that the work of the stockades
should be pressed on more quickly.

1 See vol. ii, p. 132. The meaning of the term is " Lord of the
Shore".

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 71

CHAPTER XVII.
Of the site and foundation of the kingdom and city of Malaca.
The kingdom of Malaca 1 on the one side is co-terminous

1 Camões makes the prophetic Siren sing : —

" Mais avante fareis, que se conheça
Malaca por empório ennobrecido,
Onde toda a província do mar grande
Suas mercadorias ricas mande.

" Dizem que desta terra, co'as possantes
Ondas o mar entrando, dividio
A nobre ilha Samatra, que já d'antes
Juntas ambas a gente antigua vio :
C hereon eeo foi dita, e das prestantes
Veas d'ouro, que a terra produzio,
Áurea por epitheto lhe- ajuntaram,
Alguns que fosse Ophir imaginaram.

u Mas na ponta da terra Cingapura
Veras, onde o caminho às náos se estreita
Daqui, tornando a costa á Cynosura,
Se encurva, e para a Aurora se endireita :
Vês Pam, Fatâne, reinos, e a longura
De Sião, que estes e outros mais sujeita ;
Olha o rio Menão, que se derrama
Do grande lago, que Chiamai se chama."

x, 123-125.

" Malacca, see before where ye shall pitch
Your great Emporium, and your Magazins :
The Rendezvouz of all that Ocean round
For Merchandizes rich that there abound.

41 From this ('tis said) the Waves' impetuous course,
Breaking a passage through, from Main to Main,
Samatra's noble Isle of old did force,
Which then a Neck of Land therewith did chain :
That this was Chersonese till that divorce,
And from the wealthy mines, that there remain,

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72 COMMENTARIES OF

with the kingdom of Queda, 1 and on the other with the
kingdom of Pam, 2 and would have about a hundred leagues
of coast, and in breadth, across tho land up to a chain of
mountains where the kingdom of Sião 8 stops, it would be
about ten leagues. All this land of old was subject to the
kingdom of Sifto, and it would be about ninety years, 4 a
little more or less — when Afonso Dalboquerque arrived
there — since it became a kingdom of itself. And the kings
of this kingdom became in time so powerful, that they were
called Coltoi8, a word used among them for " Emperor."
Now, because it is necessary, for well understanding these
commentaries, to look a little further into the foundation of
Malaca, I will relate here whence this kingdom derived its
first beginning.

At the time when Malaca was founded, there reigned in
the Island of Jaoa a king who was called Bataratamurel,

The Epithite of Golden had annext :
Some think it was the Ophyr in the Text.

" But at that Point doth Cingapur appear :
Where the pincht Streight leaves Ships do room to play.
Heer the Coast, winding to the Northerne Beare,
Faces the fair Aurora all the way.
See Pan, Patane (ancient Realms that were),
And long Stan, which These, and more, obey !
The copious River of Menam behold,
And the great Lake Chiamay from whence 'tis roll'd ! "

Fanshaw.

1 Queda, or Kidah, 7 deg. 6 min. N., 100 deg. 83 min. E. ; on the
western aide of the Malay Peninsula.

" Queda, que he só* cabeça
Das que pimenta alii tem produzido. " *

Zms., x, 128.

* Pahang, 8 deg. 35 min. N., 108 deg. 17 min. E., on the eastern
Bide of the Peninsula. * Siam.

4 See notes derived from Col. Yule's Marco Polo, at end of this
chapter.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 73

and in the kingdom of Palimbâo 1 which lies within the
Island of Jaoa, there reigned a Hindoo king whose name
was Parimiçura, and as there were many dissensions between
them they at length came to an understanding that Parimi-
çura should marry one of the daughters of Bataratamurel,
who was called Parimiçuri, and continue paying a certain
tribute to the king of Jaoa his father-in-law. This king
Parimiçura, when a few days had elapsed after he had made
this agreement, repented of it, and rose up and threw off
his promise of obedience, and would not pay the tribute to
his father-in-law, and in order to do this he conferred with
some of his relatives, and put his intentions into practice.

When Bataratamurel perceived that his son-in-law had
risen up in rebellion against him, and was unwilling to pay
the tribute, he came against him with a large force and
overcame him, and took away his kingdom from him ; and
Parimiçura, seeing that he was worsted and fearing lest he
should fall into the hands of his father-in-law, fled away
with his wife, his children and his slaves, and some few
remnants of his forces, in a junk, and reached Singapura, 2
which was a very large and very populous city —
as is witnessed by its great ruins which still appear to
this very day — before the foundation of Malaca, and put
himself under obedience to the king of Sião.

Singapura, whence this city takes its name, is a channel
through which all the shipping for those parts passes, and
signifies in the Malay language, " treacherous delay" ; and
this designation suits the place very well, for sometimes it
happens that when ships are there waiting for a monsoon
there comes so fierce a storm that they are lost.

When the king Parimiçura had arrived at this port, the
captain of the city, whose name was Tamagi, seeing him
coming in this plight, entertained him in his house, and

1 ? Palembang, in Sumatra island, 2 deg. 46 min. S., 104 deg. 60 min.
£. See note at end of chapter. * Singapore.

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74 COMMENTARIES OP

showed him many honours. Bat Parimiçura, as a payment
for the good treatment he had received, out of covetousness
for the richness of the land, murdered him with a creese a
week after his arrival, and became Lord of the Channel and
population that there were in it.

As soon as it was known in the kingdom of Falimb&o
how prosperous Parimiçura had become, three thousand
natives of this kingdom made their way to the king, and
these he kept with him, and he lived in the city of Singa-
pura for five years, robbing every one who passed through,
for he had a numerous fleet of launches on the sea. The
Lord of Patané/who was Tamugi's brother, 8 when he learned
that Parimiçura had murdered his brother, and had made
himself lord of the channel, made ready and fell upon him
with a large force, and being assisted by those of the
country who owed him a grudge on account of his rapacity,
overcame him.

Parimiçura being now overcome fled away and went up
into the river of Muar, where he found some fishermen who
lived in poverty, and commenced again to get land into
cultivation to produce bread 8 for his subsistence, and with a
little fish which the fisherman used to give him he lived
there for some time ; and some people whom he carried with
him led no other life than roving as robbers over the sea in
launches which they found.

At this time there lived also in the port, where now the
population of Malaca is located, twenty or thirty fishermen,
who supported themselves sometimes by fishing, and at
other times by robbing ; and they hearing that king Pari-

1 Patani, in the Malay Peninsula, 6 deg. 56 min. N., 101 deg. 2
min. E. * Note the altered form of this name.

• E começou afazer terras depâopera se manter; it maybe that there
is here a play on the word terra in the phrase terras de pão, lamps of
bread, as it were, instead of the expanse of territory he had formerly
held sway over.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 75

miçura was settled at Muar, with the reputation of being a
cavalier and man of spirit, made their way to him and told
him that in the country where they were, three leagues'
distance along a river, there was a plain which was called
Bintão, 1 very fertile, wherein large crops of rice could be
grown, as well as all other things required, and well sup-
plied with water for drinking; that he ought to remove

* Bintang. " An Island called Pentam, a very wild place. All the
wood that grows thereon consists of odoriferous trees." — Marco Polo,
Ed. Yule, ii, 261.

Of this island, situated in 1 deg. 10 min. N. lat., 104 deg. 30 min.
E. long., Col. Yule writes as follows : — " Pentam is no doubt the Bin-
tang of our maps, more properly Bentan, a considerable Island at the
Eastern extremity of the Straits of Malaca. It appears in the list pub-
lished by Dulaurier from a Javanese inscription, of the kingdoms con-
quered in the fifteenth century by the sovereigns reigning at Majapahit
in Java. Bintang was for a long time after the Portuguese conquest of
Malacca the chief residence of the Malay Sultans who had been excelled
by that conquest, and it still nominally belongs to the Sultan of Johore
the descendant of those princes, though, in fact, ruled by the Dutch,
whose port of Rhio stands on a small island close to its western shore.
It is the Bintâo of the Portuguese, whereof Camoens speaks as the per-
sistent enemy of Malacca." The passage is as follows : —

" Mas despois que as estrellas o chamarem,
Succederás, 6 forte Mascarenhas,
E, se injustos o mando te tomarem,
Prometto-te que fama eterna tenhas t
Para teus inimigos confessarem
Teu valor alto, o fado quer que venhas
A mandar mais de palmas coroado,
Que de fortuna justa acompanhado :

" No reino de Bintão, que tantos danos
Terá a Malaca muito tempo feitos, *
N' hum só dia as injurias de mil annos
Vingaras co' o valor de illustres peitos :
Trabalhos e perigos inhumanos,
Abrolhos férreos mil, passos estreitos,
Tranqueiras, baluartes, lanças, settas,
Tudo fico, que rompas e sobmettos."

x, 56, 57.

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76 COMMENTARIES OF

thither, and if he would make his settlement there, they
would serve him and become his tributaries.

Parimiçura, having received this information which the
fishermen had given to him, went and viewed the site, and
was very much pleased with it and with all that territory ;
and returning to Muar embarked with all his household and
followers, and went to live at Bintâo, and began to make
extensive sowings of grain, and orchards of fruit, and made
some very large palaces for his occupation, and became so
well pleased with this land thab he created the fishermen to
be Nobles and Mandarins of his household out of recom-
pense for their services in having shown him the situation ;
and because the harbour was commodious and very deep
with good water, in the space of four months after Parimi-
çura had first gone thither, there was a population of a
hundred inhabitants where the city of Malaca now stands. 1

The robbers who used to go about pirating over the sea
iu launches that made a practice of putting into the port of
Malaca for water, appreciating the favours and good enter-
tainment that they received from the king Parimiçura, began
to take up their abode there, and carry thither the goods
they had stolen, and a great development began to take
place, so that within two years there was a population of
two thousand inhabitants, and they began to acquire a
steady trade. This Parimiçura gave the name of Malaca
to the new colony, because, in the language of Jaoa, when
a man of Palimbâo flees away they call him Malayo; and
since he had come to that place fleeing from the kingdom
of Palimbâo, of which indeed he once was king, he gave
the place the name of Malaca. Others say that it was

1 From this text it would appear that the city of Malaca was built ou
the plain of Bintâo. If the statement of the Commentaries is correct,
Bintâo can hardly be identified with the Island of Bintang, as above.
Very possibly there were several sites thus named. Bantam, on the
West Coast of Java, is another example of the name.

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AFONSO DÀLBOQUBRQUB. 77

called Malaca because of the numbers of people who came
there from one part and the other in so short a space of
time, for the word Malaca also signifies to meet, and there-
fore they gave it the name of city in contradiction. Of
these two opinions let each one accept that which he thinks
to be the best, for this is the truth of the matter.

Batara Tamurel, having perceived the rapid growth of
affairs at Malaca, and the prosperity which attended his
son-in-law, reconciled himself with him again and sent
him a great many supplies at his expense; and because
the king Parimiçura was a man of good nature and treated
with kindness those who visited that port, the inhabitants
of Pace and of Bengala 1 began to trade with those of
Malaca, and seven years after Parimiçura had begun this
population of Malaca, he died, and left behind him a son
whose name was Xaquendarxa, who, though he was a
Hindoo, married a daughter of the king of Pace, but it
would not have been very difficult to make him turn Moor,
for when they were married, either by reason of the entrea-
ties of his wife, or from the admonitions of his father-in-law,
very few days elapsed before he became a Moor. And this
king Xaquendarxa, after having several sons, desired to go
and see the king of China, saying he wished to go and see
a king who had for his vassals the Javanese, and the
Siamese, and people of all other known lands; so he set
out from Malaca, taking with him a present for the king of
China, and occupied three years in the journey, and be-
came his vassal, and brought back with him a half seal in
sign of vassalage, and obtained permission to coin small
money of pewter, which money he ordered to be made as
soon as he reached Malaca; and to it he gave the name of
Caixes, 2 which are like our ceitih, and a hundred of them go

1 Bengal.

* Cf. "Aos quaes se davão duas Caixas, que sam três reis da nossa
moeda" {Hist, de Fern. Mend. Pinto, 128, col. 4). Bluteau.— The Chinese

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78 COMMENTARIES OP

to the calaim, and each calaim was worth, according to an
appointed law, eleven reis and four ceitils. 1 Silver and
gold was not made into money, but only used by way of
merchandise.

And when the king of China had taken his leave of
Xaquendarxâ, he sent with him a captain who was to
accompany him back to Malaca, and in consequence of the

Le (? Portug., -Be) is the European cash; 100 Le = 1 Candarim
(? Portug. Calaim).

1 We here obtain the value of the Calaim (as a coin), which is men-
tioned above, at p. 45. But, on the other hand, Bluteau quotes from
the Décadas a passage whore the word is used as equivalent to estanho,
and calls it a fine kind of Indiao pewter. According to the above, the
monetary system of Malaca, as arranged by Xaquendarxa, would be—

1 Caixe, or Cash, Malay = 1 Ceitil, Portuguese.

100 Caixes - 1 Calaim = 11 Reis, 4 Ceitils.
.•. 1 Ret = 8t? t Ceitils or Caixes.
But from Bluteau's description of the Ceitil, which I translate below,
the correspondence between the Rei and Ceitil is different from this
deduction. " Ceitil, or Seitil, as though one said Sextil, for of old it was
a coin which was equal to the sixth part of an adarme (-& of an ounce).
Others say that Ceitil is derived from Ceita, understanding thereby that
this coin was taken from the city of Ceita. Others will have it that the
coin was called Ceitil, as though for Settil, because seven of them go to
the copper Real. Francisco Soarez Toscano says, in his Parallels, p.
129, that king D. Joào I, in remembrance of his conquest of the city of
Ceita, ordered copper money to be struck, which he then called Septil,
now Ceitil, of which six go to the copper Real, although they are no
longer current in this kingdom, and, indeed, in the time of the said
author they were only current in Guimaraens, where flax was bought
and sold by the Ceitil. On one side of this coin, the said king ordered
to be placed the arms of Portugal ; on the other, a city along the water
side," etc. For the best information upon the native currency, the
reader will do well to consult " Recherches sur les Monnaies des Indi-
genes de PArchipel Indien et de la Péninsule Malaie, par H. C. Millies;
Ouvrage Posthume, publié par l'lnstitut Koyale pour la Philoiogie et
T£thnographie de l'lnde Néerlandaise. La Have. M. Nijhoff, 1871,"
4to. For figures of these coins, see the work of Manoel Bernardes
Lopes Fernandes, entitled " Memoria das moedas correntes em Portu-
gal", etc. ; among the " Memorias da Academia Real das Sciencias de
Lisboa, 2a classe", p. 06, etc.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 79

great friendship which sprung np between them on their
road, Xaqnendarxá married one of his daughters/ by whom
he had a son whose name was Bajapute, from whom are
descended the kings of Campar 2 and Pam. And a few
days after his return to Malaca he died, and his eldest son,
whose name was Modafaixa, reigned after him.

When Modafaixa came to the throne he again confirmed
the treaties of peace which his father had made with the
king of China, and of Sião and of Jaoa, and greatly enno-
bled Malaca,, and always kept a fleet on the sea, and con-
quered many lands, and took the kingdom of Campar and
of Pam, and of Dandargiri, and made [the kings of] them
Moors by force and married them to three daughters of his
brother 3 Bajapute. When he had done this he took the
name of Sultan Madofaixa, 4 and soon after died, and one
of his sons, named Sultan Marsusa, became king after him.

This king when he began to govern his kingdom built
upon the mountain of Malaca great palaces in which he
lived, and because he was afraid lest his uncle Eajapute,
who was at Bent&o, should rise up against him and deprive

1 The text is " casou-o Xaquendarxá com huma filha sua", " Xaquen-
darxá married him to one of his daughters"; but from the context and
pedigree, there is no doubt that the author of the Commentaries has
translated wrongly here from some original account. The article
should not be enclitic ; the sentence will then become " Xaquendarxá
married 11 , etc., as I have given it ; and this is borne out by the reading
of the edition of 1576. " Casou ho Xaquendarxá 11 , etc.

9 " Vês, corre a costa que Champá se chama,

Cuja mata he do pao cheiroso ornada. 11 — Lus., x, 129.
" Here (mark it !) runs the Coast that's called Champa,
Whose groves smell hot of Calambuco wood. 11 — Fanshaw.
See also Yule's Marco Polo, ii, 248, Book in, chap, v: " Of the Great
Country called Chamba"; which the learned editor identifies with u the
whole coast between Tongking and Kamboja, including all that is now
called Cochin China outside of Tongking". — Ib. } p. 250.

* See pedigree at the end of the chapter.
4 Note this variant form of the name.

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80 COMMENTARIES OF

him of his kingdom by force, he went to that place and
killed him with a creese, although he was now of an ad-
vanced age.

As soon as the kings of Pam and Dandargiri were informed
of the murder of his uncle which had been committed by Sultan
Marsusa they conspired against him, but as he was a cavalier
he went up against them and overcame them, and compelled
them to pay a double tribute, and married them with his two
sisters, and he himself married a daughter of the king of Pam.
These marriages produced great amity among them all,
and by this daughter of the king of Pam the sultan had a
son who died by poison ; and afterwards the sultan married
a daughter of his Lassamane, 1 by whom he had a son called
Alaoadin. On the death of Sultan Marsusa, Sultan Alaoa-
din became king and married a daughter of the king of
Campar, and this king was so rich and amassed so much
gold out of the revenues of the port of Malaca, that it was
estimated at a hundred and forty quintals 2 of gold.

He now contemplated his wealth and determined to go to
the temple of Meca, and made ready many junks for the
passage, intending to carry with him the king of Campar
and the king of Dandargiri, whom he kept in his court
because they were inclined to revolt, not permitting them
to return to their own lands, and he had become lord over
all that land because he was very powerful on the sea and
very rich. And in this king's time Malaca became so
noble a city that it was said to contain forty thousand in-
habitants, amongst whom were people from all parts of the
world. This Sultan Alaoadin married a daughter of his

1 For the signification of this word, see next chapter.

* The quintal is equal to 4 arrobas, of 32 arráteis each. The arrátel
contains 2 marcos, of eight onças each. The quintal is represented as
equivalent to 58.7428 kilogr., Fr. 140 quintals = 8824 kilogr., nearly ;
that is, upwards of eight tons avoirdupois, English. At £3, English, to
the ounce, this would amount to upwards of £860,000.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 81

Bendará, who had been Qaelim 1 in the time of his father,
whom he loved very dearly, and by her he had a son who
was called Sultan Mahamet, and by the daughter of the
king of Campar he had a son whose name was Sultan
Celeim&o, and to this latter the kingdom appertained by
right, because he came of the lineage of the kings.

When Âlaoadin was ready to set out for Maca, he died of
poison, and it was said to have been given to him by the
intrigues of the kings of Pam and Dandargiri, because he
tried to carry them away against their will. On the death
of Sultan Alaoadin, a great dissension arose in the king-
dom, because the daughter of the king of Campar, who was
queen, wished that her son should inherit the kingdom, for
it belonged to him by right. But the Bendará, who was
very powerful, and had command of large sums of money,
favoured the grandson of his brother who had been Ben-
dará before him, and the kings of Pam and Campar
favoured the former. At last the Bendará seized the king-
dom for his relative ; and as soon as Sultan Mahamet was
in possession of the kingdom, he threw off the yoke of Si&o
and Java, and submitted himself to the king of China.

When the king of Si&o found that the king of Malaca
would not obey him, he came down against him with a fleet
of a hundred sail. The king of Malaca getting knowledge
of this, sent his Lassamane to intercept the fleet on the
way, and the Lassamane proceeded to wait for him off the
island of Pulapic&o, 3 and routed the whole of the fleet.
And from that time until Afonso Dalboquerque took
Malaca 3 — twenty-two years after — they never came again.

1 This word appears to be a titular designation and of Chinese origin.

* ? Panjang, or Palo Panjang Island, in the Gulf of Siam, 9 deg. 9
min. N., 103 deg. 25 min. E.

* Col. Yule, in his Second Edition of The Book of Ser Marco Polo,
gives the substance of the following notes in vol. ii, p. 263, 264, which
arc necessary to understand this chapter.

Singapura was founded by an emigration from Palembang, itself a
VOL. III. <(

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,82 COMMENTARIES OF

This king Sultan Mahamet was very vain and very proud,
and made a quarrel with his father for wishing to go to the
temple of Meca, for he used to say that Malaca was the
right Meca; and, being suspicious of his brother, Sultan

Javanese colony. It became the site of a flourishing kingdom, and was
then, according to the tradition recorded by De Barros, the most im-
portant centre of population in those regions. The Malay chronology,
as published by Valentyn (v, 352), ascribes the foundation of Malaca to
a king called Iakandar Shah, in a.d. 1252, fixes the reign of Mahomet
Shah, third king of Malaca, and first Mussulman king, from a.d. 1276-
1333, and gives eight kings in all between the foundation of the city
and its capture by the Portuguese in a.d. 1511, a space, according to
those data, of 259 years. As Sri Iskandar Shah, the founder, had
reigned three years in Singapura before founding Malaca, and Mahomet
Shah, the loser, reigned two years in Johore after the loss of his capital,
we have 264 years to divide among eight kings, giving thirty-three years
to each. This certainly indicates that the period requires considerable
curtailment.

Again, both De Barros and these Commentaries ascribe the foundation
of Malaca to a Javanese fugitive from Palembao, called Paramiçura,
and the latter makes Xaquendarxa (Iskandar Shah) the son of Parami-
çura, and first convert to Mahomedanism. Four other kings (see pedi-
gree here following) reign in succession, the last of them being Sultan
Mahamet (Mahomed Shah), who was expelled by Afonso Daiboquerque
in 1511.

The historian, De Couto, while giving the same number of reigns
from the conversion to the capture, places the former about a.d. 1384.
And these Commentaries allow no more than some ninety years from the
foundation of Malaca to the capture of the city by the Portuguese. This
would place the foundation about a.d. 1421. There is another approxi-
mate check to the chronology, afforded by a Chinese record in Amyot's
Collection , vol. xiv, where we read that Malaca first acknowledged itself
tributary to the empire in 1405, the king being Sili-ju-eul-sula (?). In
a.d. 1411 Peilimisula (Parimiçura) came in person to the Court of
China to render homage ; and in 1414 the Queen Mother of Malaca
came to the Court, bringing her son's homage. Mow this notable fact
of the visit of a king of Malaca to the Court of China, and his
acknowledgment of the Emperor's supremacy, is also recorded in these
Commentaries; wherein, it is true, the visit is attributed not to Parimi-
çura, founder of Malaca, but to his son and successor Iskandar Shah.
This may be a question of title only, perhaps borne by both ; but, we
seem entitled to conclude with confidence that Malaca was founded by

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AFONSO DÁLBOQUERQUE.

Celeimáo, he murdered him with a creese, and in like
manner he murdered seventeen of the principal men, all of
them his relatives, without any cause, and even killed his
own son and heir, because he had asked him for some
money to spend. The Moors, indeed, used to say that it
was in retribution for these crimes that Afonso Dalboquerque
deprived him of his kingdom.

a Prince whose son was reigning, and visited the Court of China in
1411. And the real chronology will be about midway between the
estimate of De Couto and of the Commentaries ; that is, the commence-
ment of the fifteenth century.

PEDIGREE OF THE KINGS OF MALACA,

According to the " Commentaries 11 .

Bataratamurel, king of
Java.

Parimiçura, king of = Parimiçuri.
Palimbão, and 1st
king of Malaca.

1 | 2

Adau. of the king of = Xaquendarxá, 2nd == A dau. of the king of
Pace. king of Malaca. j China's Captain.

Rajapute. ===

== Sultan Modafaixa, Three daus. married to
3rd king of Malaca. the kings of Campar,

Pam, and Dandargiri.

1 | 2

A dau. of the king of === Sultan Marsusa, == A dau. of the
Pam. 4th king of Malaca. mane.

i. A

A son, poisoned.

A dau. of the king of === Sultan Álaoadim, =j= A dau. of the Bendara.
Campar. | 5th king of Malaca.

Sultan CeleimSo.

Sultan Mahamet,

6th and last king of

Malaca.

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84 COMMENTARIES OF

And when these men were dead, he seized all their
property! amounting to about fifty quintals of gold, and
took all their wives and daughters to be his concubines —
about fifty women of great price. Thus there were in
Malaca, from the first king who founded the city to the
time of Sultan Mahamet, in whose time Afonso Dalbo-
querque took it, six kings, that is to say, Parimiçura,
Xaquendarxá, Sultan Modafaixa, Sultan Marsusa, Sultan
Alaoadim, Sultan Mahamet. And Malaca became so noble
that they used to say, when Afonso Dalboquerque took it,
that the city and the suburbs contained about a hundred
thousand inhabitants, and extended a good league's length
along the sea.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Of the customs and government of the city of Malaca.

This port of Malaca is very safe ; there are no storms to
injure it, and never was a ship lost there. It forms a point
where some monsoons commence and others end, so that
the inhabitants of Malaca call those of India people of the
West, and the Javanese, Chinese, and Gores, 1 and all other
of those Islanders, people of the East ; and Malaca is the
middle of all this, a sure and speedy navigation, such as
Singapura never had, for in the shoals of Capacia many a
ship has been lost. And those which come from the east
to the west find here western merchandize, and carry it
away with them, leaving that which they bring of theirs
here instead, and in like manner do they who come from
the west. By these means Malaca gradually increased to
so great an extent, that whereas the place used once to be
a village of Pace, Pace became at length a village of

1 These are described farther on in this chapter.

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AP0N80 DALBOQUERQUE. 85

Malaca, for most of the Moors of Pace came thither to
settle.

Every year there used to come to Malaca ships of Cam-
baya, Chaul, Dabul, Calicut, Adem, Meca, Xaer, 1 Judá,
Choramendal, and Bengala, of the Chinese, Gores, and
Javanese, of Pegú, and all those parts. But those of Sião
did not come to Malaca with their merchandize, because
they were continually at war with the Malays. And I
verily believe, according to information which I have
obtained concerning the affairs of Malaca, that if there
were another world, and another navigable route, yet all
would resort to the city, for in her they would find every
different sort of drugs and spices which can be mentioned
in the world, by reason of the port of Malaca being more
commodious for all the monsoons from Cape Comorim to
the East, than any other ports that exist in those parts.
But I do not describe particularly the other advantages that
are possessed by this port of Malaca on account of the
monsoons, which enable a navigable intercourse to be main-
tained in those parts independently of the shallows of
Capacia, in order that I may not make too long a digression.

The Malays are proud men by nature, and esteem them-
selves highly for killing men adroitly with stabs of the creese. 2

1 Xaer, or Shehr, a port on the coast of Arabia, between Adem and
Dofar, 14 deg. 44 min. N., 49 deg. 40 min. £.

8 Bluteau describes the Crte, or Creese, the national arm of the
Malays, as a kind of dagger, with a flat blade, sometimes undulating at
the sides, and poisoned. The poison is applied in two ways, either by
steeping the weapon in the juice of herbs, and bo applying the poison
whenever it is required to use it ; or, by incorporating the poison into the
temper of the blade, in order that the metal may be thoroughly imbued
with it. Of this latter kind, there are some specimens which cost as
much as a thousand patacas (piastres), for the makers spend much time
in their manufacture, using many superstitions and observing certain
periods for the tempering. They strike a certain number of blows on
certain days of the month for the forging, and sometimes the ceremony
of this work lasts, with mysterious interruptions, for more than a year.

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86 COMMENTARIES OF

They are malicious, generally of little truth, yet the Gores
always used to be truthful because they held it to be a high
honour that men should trade with them, for they are a
noble race, and one of good customs. The Malays are
gallant men, they wear good clothing, they will not allow
anyone to put his hands on their heads, nor on their
shoulders. All their delight is in conversing about military
matters, and they are very courteous. No one is allowed to
wear yellow colours under pain of death, except only the
king of the land, unless he be a person to whom the king
gives permission to do so in order to show him honour.
The Fidalgos, when they speak to the king, have to stand
off from him at a distance of five or six paces.

In the hot season the poison which is communicated by the eras is so
subtle, that, from a light prick or a mere scratch, it reaches the heart
and kills. The only remedy is for the wounded person immediately —
comer do seu próprio esterco.

Mr. H. Syer Cuming, F.S.A.Scot., whose collection of ethnographical
objects is very extensive, has kindly given me the following notes con-
cerning this weapon : — " The Kris may be regarded as the typical or
national weapon of the Malays of Java and Sumatra. It is a dagger
with a waved or serpentine double-edged blade, varying from Icsb than
eleven to full fourteen inches in length, and gradually widening from
the point to the grip, where it has a rather sudden expansion, which is
always more or less richly decorated on one side with a perforated
device. This device occasionally takes the form of the head of a serpent,
the body of the reptile constituting a sort of mid-rib, running nearly
the whole length of the blade; which, it is well to state, is of fine
watered or damasked steel, and it is a common practice to dip this blade
in poison before going into action.

44 The hilt, or grip, of the kris has a singular curve or bend on one side,
and is generally wrought of a beautiful rich brown wood which takes a
high polish ; but ivory is sometimes employed. The grip is almost con-
stantly carved; the decorations, however, vary from a few slight cuttings
to elaborate designs.

" The wooden sheath of the kris is also of peculiar fashion, having a
broad wing on one side to receive the sharp projecting portion of the
blade, and it further serves as a support to the weapon when worn in
the waist-girdle."

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUE. 87

The lords who are adjudged to suffer penalty of death
have the honourable privilege of dying by the creese, and
the nearest relation of the sufferer is the one who kills him.
If any man of the people die without heirs, his property
goes to the king ; and no one can marry without permission
from the king or the Bendará. If anyone take his wife in
adultery, he may kill within his house both of the parties,
but not outside the house, neither can he kill the one
without the other, but he must accuse them before the
judge. In the case of a fine for injuries, when it has been
imposed, the kings used to take half of the money, and the
injured person the other half. In Malaca there were divers
manners of administering legal punishment, according to
the nature of the crime : some were thrust upon spits,
others struck forcibly on the breast ; l some hanged, others
boiled in water ; others roasted and given as food to certain
men who are like wild men, from a land which is called
Daru, whom the king brought to Malaca to eat those
condemned to this death. And of every man who dies at
the hands of the law, the king takes the half of the pro-
perty when there are heirs, and the whole of it when there
are none.

There used to be in Malaca five principal dignities. The
first is Pudricaraja, which signifies Viceroy, and after the
king this one is the greatest. The second is Bendará, who
is the Controller of the Treasury, and governs the kingdom.
Sometimes the Bendará holds both of these offices of Pudri-
caraja and Bendará, for two separate persons in these two
offices never agree well together. The third is Lassamane;
this is Admiral of the Sea. The fourth is Tamungo, who is
charged with the administration of justice upon foreigners.
The fifth is Xabandar; and of these there were four, one of
each nation— one of China, another of Java, another of
Cambaya, another of Bengala. And all the lands were

* Acotovelados noa peitos; lit., elbowed, or struck with the elbow.

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88 COMMENTARIES OF

divided among these four men, and every one had his
portion, and the Tamungo was Judge of the Custom House,
over all these.

One may well and truly say that Malaca, in point of fact,
and merchant trade, is the most extensive place in the
world, and her laws were always very strictly obeyed, and
the city had need of great • persons to govern it, as well in
the administration of justice as also in the management of
the public property, for it deserves this; but had the city been
fairly well governed, Malaca had never ceased to be as it
was of old. Yet I do not speak here of the numerous lands,
islands, kingdoms, and provinces that lie round these parts,
although I had* certain information of them in the letters
which I used to see from Afonso Dalboquerque to the king,
D. Manuel, wherein he gave him account of all those parts
of the world, for my intentions are to write only of the
labours and conquests of Afonso Dalboquerque, and all else
I leave to him who will do it better than I can. I will only
here make mention of the Gores, as it is necessary I should
do so for the sake of this history.

As for the Gores, according to the information which
Afonso Dalboquerque [obtained] when he took Malaca —
although now we have more correct accounts concerning
them, at that period it was reported that their province was
on the mainland — the general opinion of all is that their land
is an island, and they navigate from it to Malaca, whence
come every year two or three ships. The merchandizes which
they bring are silk, silk-stuffs, brocades, porcelain, a great
quantity of corn, copper, rock alum, and frusseria? and
they bring a great deal of gold in little cakes, stamped with
the seal of their king. It could not be ascertained whether
these little cakes were the money of that land, or whether
they impressed them with that mark to show that it was a

1 Frusseria ; gold or silver dust in its native state, as obtained from
washings at the river mouth, or in mines.

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AFONSO DALBOQUKRQUK. 89

thing which had passed through the port whence they
brought it, for they are men of very reserved speech, and
do not give anyone an account of their native affairs. This
gold comes from an island which is close to theirs ; it is
called Perioco, and in it there is much gold.

The land of these Oores is called Lequea ; l the men are i
fair ; their dress is like a cloak 2 without a hood ; they carry ,
long swords after the fashion of Turkish cimetars, but some-
what more narrow ; they carry also daggers of two palms'
length ; they are daring men and feared in this land [of
Malaca]. When they arrive at any port, they do not bring
out their merchandize all at once, but little by little ; they
speak truthfully, and will have the truth spoken to them.
If any merchant in Malaca broke his word, they would im-
mediately take him prisoner. They strive to dispatch their
business and get away quickly. They have no settlement
in the land, for they are not the men to like going away
from their own land. They set out for Malaca in the
month of January, and begin their return journey in
August and September. The usual course of their naviga-
tion is to beat up the channel between the Islands of Celate
and the point of Singapura, on the side of the mainland.
At the time when Afonso Dalboquerque set sail for India,
after having captured Malaca, there had arrived two of their
ships at the gate of Singapura, and they were coming on to
Malaca, but by the advice of the Lassamane, who was the
king of Malaca's admiral of the sea, they remained where
they were, and would not pass up, having learned that
Malaca had been taken by the Portuguese ; but when the
governors of the land were informed of their position, they

* Lew-Chew, or Loo-Choo, Islands, in the Chinese Empire, 26 deg.
30 min. N., 127 deg. E.

' Balandrois ; the balandrdo is an ample cloak used by several reli-
gious fraternities in Portugal.

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90 COMMENTARIES OF

sent a safeguard for them, and a flag of truce, and then
they came on immediately.

This Lassamane was a man of eighty years of age, a good
soldier, and of good repute and great knowledge : when he
perceived that the king of Malaca was lost, he went and
settled in Singapura, and after Afonso Dalboquerque was in
possession of Malaca, he came down to the River of Muar
and sent to ask a safeguard, declaring that he was desirous
of returning to live at Malaca and serving the king of
Portugal. Afonso Dalboquerque sent him the safeguard;
nevertheless he would not come, and it was thought that
some of the Moors of Malaca, hoping to gain favours from
Afonso Dalboquerque and obtain the government of the
land, had written something to this Lassamane, whereby
they had prevented his coming, for they feared that as he
was a man of uncommon capabilities, Afonso Dalboquerque
would seize the opportunity to make use of him for the
governing of Malaca.

CHAPTER XIX.

Of the message which the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent to the king
of Malaca, and of the council which he held with his captains con-
cerning the letter which Ruy de Araújo sent him.

The great Afonso Dalboquerque perceiving the pride of
the king, and the little dread he had of the Portuguese
fleet, — remembering, too, the events which had happened to
Diogo Lopez de Sequeira, — became very despondent when
he reviewed the course of this business, looking at the false-
hoods and deceit which the king of Malaca was practising
upon him. And contemplating all these things, Afonso
Dalboquerque sent word how he had many times begged
that the Christians might be surrendered, for the king had
no right to detain them forcibly, because they had not

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 91

been taken prisoners in fair war nor by way of reprisals,
but rather, on the other hand, under cover of his safeguard
and that of his governors ; for when they were walking in
the city unarmed, the king had ordered them to be put to
the sword in the very streets by any who chose to kill them ;
and although the king had declared that he had ordered
his Bendara to be put to death because he had been the
cause of the murder of the Portuguese, yet he, Afonso
Dalboquerque, had received information that this man had
been condemned to death on account of a treasonable
offence, of which he had been guilty, in plotting to stir up
a revolution against the kingdom ; and this was the truth,
for all that the artful excuses about it had for the time
been accepted, for after the death of the Bendara, the king
himself had given orders for the Christians to be put to
the torture, to the end that they should be compelled to
become Moors, and some among them, who would not bear
their sufferings, had renounced the Faith of Jesus Christ
by force, yet he had pretended to take no notice of all
these things, and put up with them to see whether it was
possible to make a good peace and friendship with him. But
since the king was so obstinate as to desire no kind of ter-
mination to this business, he, Afonso Dalboquerque, would
have him to know that none of the men in the fleet could
bear to stay there day after day, without having wreaked
their vengeance upon the treason which had been done
in that city towards the captain and soldiers of the king
of Portugal, whom the king of Malaca had ordered treason-
ably to be put to death.

Along with this communication which Afonso Dalbo-
querque sent to the king of Malaca, he also wrote a letter
to Ruy de Araújo, wherein he said how well aware he was of
his obligation, and that of the captains and all the rest of
the forces in the fleet, to die for the service of the king D.
Manuel, his lord, and much more so in a war so just wherein

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he had frequently justified himself; but that the king of
Malaca had apparently obstinately made up his mind neither
to deliver up the Christians nor to receive the peace and
friendship which were offered to him on the part of the king
of Portugal, for which reasons it was advisable to lay hold
upon him, Ruy de Araújo, without any further delay ; but
if this state of affairs should grow more serious, they must
put up with their hardships and bear them with patience,
for he on his part was bound, insomuch as it was to the
advantage of the king of Portugal's estate, to make an
end of this business and match his forces against those of
the enemy, and the longer he delayed, the more time they
had for fortifying themselves.

Buy de Araújo replied, God grant that neither the fleet
of the king of Portugal, nor his Portuguese themselves,
should receive any affront or discomfiture in order to make
his life secure, for he was also on his part bound to die for
the service of God and of his king, and for the liberty of
his countrymen, and he held it to be a good fortune for him
that Our Lord had placed him in a state where he could die
for his Holy Faith ; and, as for himself and his companions,
he should not fail to do what was best for the service of the
king of Portugal, for they were now quite resigned to any-
thing that would happen to them ; and he would have
Afonso Dalboquerque to know that the king of Malaca
was making ready as fast as was possible, and that it was
the Guzarates who were at work day and night upon the
fortification of the stockades, for these were the principal
people who could not bear that the Portuguese should get a
footing in the land ; and if the Portuguese attack upon the
city should be decided upon, it ought to be put into execu-
tion as quickly as could be, without wasting any more time
in discussing the terms of agreement, or making demands
for the surrender of the Christians ; for he must know for
certain that the king would not restore them to the Portu-

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 93

guese, except under compulsion ; and he was now become
so puffed up with pride when he surveyed the great number
of foreign soldiers that he had, that he thought of nothing
less than actually capturing the Portuguese fleet.

On receiving this reply from Buy de Araújo, Afonso
Dalboquerque summoned a meeting of all his captains on
board of his own ship, and gave them an account of all this
which was contained in the letter, and seeing that the king
of Malaca was fixed in this determination, he desired them
to declare to him whether an immediate attack should be
made upon the city, or a further exchange of complimentary
negotiations be carried on. The captains replied to him,
that for days past they had not thought it right for him to
be so long-suffering towards the king; for since the very
day of their arrival, the replies of the enemy had always
clearly indicated that they did not desire to come to any
understanding or friendship with them, and all these delays
which had been set up were to enable them to make their
preparations and fortify themselves, as Buy de Araújo had
indeed often declared in his communications.

CHAPTEB XX.

Of the requisition which the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered to be
made to the king, signed by himself and all the captains ; and how
the king sent him Ruy de Araújo and his companions whom he had
there.

Notwithstanding the above-mentioned opinion of the
captains, the great Afonso Dalboquerque thought right, for
the better qualification of these proceedings in the sight of
God, and of the kings of all that land (that they should not
say the Portuguese were tyrants) that he should first of all
order a final and formal demand to be drawn up, and signed
by him and by all the captains, and after this certain im-

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94 COMMENTARIES OF

provised attacks with a show of battle ; and this demand
was forthwith forwarded to the king of Malaca by the hands
of a Moor, who was employed in going backwards and
forwards with these negotiations.

The substance of the communication was to the effect that
the king D. Manuel, his lord, had sent to the port of
Malaca a captain, with certain ships, which came bearing
more of merchandize than of men, out of a desire which he
had of establishing peace and friendship with him ; but, in
violation of the safeguard which both the king and his
Bendará had granted to this captain, they had notwith-
standing stolen all the property and murdered or im-
prisoned the Portuguese — as had already been the subject
of complaint — and laboured as much as they possibly could
to seize his ships, but miraculously Our Lord had delivered
them from their hands, the king of Malaca should therefore
know for certain that unless orders were issued for the
immediate release of the Christians and restitution of the
property which had been captured in the ships, that he
(Afonso Dalboquerque) would certainly destroy him, and
take his city away from him, and he held God to be judge
between them that he and his governors were the cause of
their own destruction ; for, by following the advice of the
Guzarates — deadly enemies to the Portuguese — he (the king
of Malaca) would not take any steps towards concluding
terms of peace with him ; and, as for the present fleet which
he had now with him, it had no thoughts about the mon-
soon — as the Guzarates had pretended to the king — neither
was it losing any season of voyage ; nor was it searching
for a cargo ; for the ships of which it was composed belonged
to the fleet which the king of Portugal employed for the
government of India, and it was of no consequence to them
whether they remained one year or ten in that harbour;
and the king of Malaca should rest quite sure that unless
he gave up all thoughts of prosecuting the war which he

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 95

wished to make upon the captains and men of the king of
Portugal, he would very soon lose his estate; and, as a
material sign of all these things being in this position,
Afonso Dalboquerque gave this token, that he shifted a ring
he wore from one finger to another ; which he did forthwith
in presence of his messenger, who took this declaration to
the king.

And the king of Malaca lost no time in sending the
messenger back again to declare that his heart was good
and sound, and he did not remember about Buy de Araújo
and his Christians ; that the reason of not sending them
was that he was having some clothing made for them ; and
that he desired Afonso Dalboquerque would order his ships
to withdraw from right in front of the port, in order that
there might not arise any disputes between the Christians
and the Moors, who had their ships there.

Therefore, although Afonso Dalboquerque was well aware
that this was only an artifice of the king, nevertheless, in
order not to give him an opportunity of taking hold of any-
thing for future complaint, he ordered the small vessels to
withdraw and lie off outside the port ; and told the Moor,
his messenger, that he was waiting for Buy de Araújo and
his companions, and unless they were returned to him
immediately, he should not trouble himself with any further
parley or communications. The Moor went back with this
message, and six days passed away without his returning
with any reply to this. Afonso Dalboquerque, seeing this
delay, would not wait any longer, and sent ten boats, with
armed men in them, to set fire to some houses which stood
close to the edge of the shore ; and to burn the ships of the
Guzarates, in order that they should lose all hope of re-
turning to their land so soon with a cargo, because they
had taken so much trouble to prevent the settlement of
differences between him and the king of Malaca; and to
burn also all the other ships that lay in the port, except

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96 COMMENTARIES OF

only those which came from ports to the east of the Cape of
Comorim, if they belonged to Hindoos.

When these boats reached the houses they set them on
fire immediately, and did the same to the ships. The
king, now having experienced the determination of Afonso
Dalboquerque, lost no time in sending back Buy de Araújo
and the Christians, and with them a Moor to treat for terms
of peace, asking him to send back detailed statements of his
complaints, and he would do whatever was desired of him.
But although Afonso Dalboquerque knew very well that
this would not produce any effect, nevertheless he sent back
certain statements of his demands, and told the Moor to
declare to the king that these were the conditions on
which only he would make peace and establish himself in
the land.

The king considered the articles, and conceded those of
which Afonso Dalboquerque was most doubtful (which did
not seem to him to be a good sign), viz., that he would
agree to grant a site in the city on which to erect a
fortress, and would pay in ready money for everything that
had been taken from Diogo Lopez de Sequeira. Afonso
Dalboquerque, employing artifices also on his side against
the king, replied that although he attached greater im-
portance to the other articles which he had sent than to
those which the king had conceded, nevertheless he would
consent to accept these concessions, that it might not be
said that he was a hard man to please.

To this reply no answer was ever sent back from the
king, but some Moorish spies came disguised like merchants,
and brought for sale musk, chickens, and other things ; and
at other times there came the Moor who had been em-
ployed to convey the communications between the king and
the Portuguese, discoursing of matters which were nothing
to the purpose. He pretended that he came to apprise
Afonso Dalboquerque of many junks that were approaching

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 97

from various parts, armed and with forces on board favour-
able to the king of Malaca, and of the great preparations for
war that they carried. And when the Moor went off, there
came out of the river a number of armed paráos making
show of desiring to come to combat with our fleet ; yet with
all this, Afonso Dalboquerque bore with it for some days,
to see if they desired to follow good advice. But when he
saw their stockades bedecked with flags, and everything
arranged in order of battle, and that the king, being a
tyrant who was anxious to keep up his position at all risks,
and spending a great deal of his treasure to keep up his
power, and to maintain it, was so blind that he did not see
the danger that he ran of losing his kingdom, he considered
with himself that this was a judgment that had come upon
the king, and that Our Lord desired to make an end of him
for good and all, and to cast the Moors, and the very name
of Mafamede, out of the land, and to have his Gospel
preached in those regions, and their mosques transformed
into houses of God's praise by means of the king D. Manuel
and by the labours of his subjects, so he gave orders for an
attack with armed boats and two barges with heavy bom-
bards, with the object of viewing the men who rallied at
the alarm, and seeing where they had stationed their ar-
tillery, and how they managed their defence.

CHAPTER XXI.

How the Chinese merchants, who were at Malaca, made their way to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque ; and of what passed with him ;
and of the council which he held with the Captains, Fidalgos, and
Cavaliers of the Fleet to attack the city.

Among the foreign ships which were in the port of
Malaca, to which Afonso Dalboquerque would not have any
injury done when he ordered those of the Guzarates to be

VOL. III. H

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burned, were five Chinese junks, whose captains and crews
the king of Malaca had detained for some days past, intend-
ing to avail himself of them against the king of Daru, with
whom he was at war, and this was their condition when
Afonso Dalboquerque arrived with his fleet. But the king
of Malaca, confident that the Chinese would never dare to
fly away for fear of the Portuguese in the port, and also be-
cause he had quite enough to do to look after himself and
his country, ceased to think about thorn .

When the Chinese perceived that they had greater free-
dom than before, they sought a means of escape, and
gathered themselves together in their junks. The crews,
who were left on land, seeing their captains in safety, a few
at a time, each one as best he might, made their way to
them, and these captains, when they had reassembled their
men, being thoroughly indignant against the king for the
robbery and tyranny which he had exercised upon them in
respect of their merchandise, and also in order to obtain
security for themselves, came and offered themselves to
Afonso Dalboquerque with their crews and ships, to help
him in his war.

He thanked them very much for their offers of help, but
would not accept any assistance from them except the bar-
ques 1 of their junks, to be used for disembarking his men
on land, for should their business not succeed in the way he
hoped in Our Lord that it would, if the Chinese were in
opposition to the king of Malaca in the matter, they might
hereafter be ill treated by the king for the part they had
taken.

The Chinese replied, that seeing he would not accept
their services, they begged him very much of his kindness
to grant them permission to go away to their own land,
and wherever they might encounter Portuguese, those
should be ever remembered for the favour he had done

1 Barcas.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 99

them in letting them depart at liberty and get away from
such a bad set of people as the Malays were ; and if Malaca
should fall into his power, they would undertake that every
year more than one hundred junks should come there with
great quantity of merchandise; and with very courteous
words they told him to take very good advice before he
attacked the city, for there were inside it more than twenty
thousand fighting men, Javanese, Persians, and Coraçones,
men in whom the king reposed the greatest confidence;
while of the natives, the king could have as many soldiers
as he wished ; and he had twenty war elephants, with their
castles well armed, and plenty of artillery and arms of every
kind, which the Guzarates had brought for him from Oam-
baya, and as for all other things necessary for the war, he
was not in need of anything ; and unless the city were taken
by starvation (though the inhabitants had provided even
for this contingency), by stopping the supplies which came
to her from Jaoa, they thought it very doubtful if any
victory could be obtained against her; therefore they told
him this, because they would be very sorry to see him in
any peril.

Afonso Dalboquerque told them that he thanked them
very much for their advice, but he was already quite de-
termined to undertake the matter ; and even if the king of
Malaca' s power were great, still greater was the power of
God, for whose faith they were fighting ; that he begged they
would stay there a few more days to see what end came to
Malaca, and then carry news to the king of China of all that
might take place; and he would send them a galley in
which they could be drawn up close by the place of disem-
barkation, so as to see the great spirit with which the
Portuguese would attack the. city, and their manner of
fighting. The Chinese did as Afonso Dalboquerque ordered,
and, with great concern that he would not have them serve
him in that enterprise, went away to their ships and sent
him the barques.

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100 COMMENTARIES OP

As soon as the Chinese had gone away, Afonso Dalbo-
querque summoned a meeting of all the captains, fidalgos,
and noble persons of the fleet, and recounted what had
passed between him and the Chinese, and told them how
much he took it to heart that these Chinese had declared
to him that they looked upon the impending undertaking
as of doubtful result, and, in order to get over his affront,
he had made up his mind to attack the city before they set
out for China, and erect therein a fortress of convenient
dimensions, with determination to maintain it, for this was
what would conduce most to the service of the king their
Lord ; because, if they did not accomplish this, it was of
little profit to stake very much upon the chance of capturing
the city, seeing that Malaca was the principal seaport of the
whole world, and thither resorted Moors from all parts in
search for spiceries, especially from Cairo and Meca; as
well as all the inhabitants of places to the eastward of the
gates of the Straits. And these Malays were the people who
did the most harm to the trade of India, so much so that the
ships of Portugal, that were thither bound, ran great risk of
being lost, unless it were a fleet of very large numbers,
well provided with men and munitions of war. At all these
things he begged them to look, and tell him, when their
minds were quite made up, what they would have him do ;
because, if they did not consider it advisable to construct a
fortress, he would not jeopardise the life of a single cabin-
boy for all the Moors that there were in Malaca.

The captains, after many debates held concerning this
matter, declared to him that they did not doubt that the
service of the king would be furthered by their constructing
a fortress in Malaca, with a view of securing the commerce
of those parts, but the business would have to be under-
taken when he had everything ready that was required, so
that he could accomplish it in a short space of time ; and
that his plan should be to attack the city and inflict a

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. . 101

punishment upon the king for his misdeeds, and overcome
that pride which he had manifested; and, if after the
capture of the city, the necessary materials for the construc-
tion of the fortress could be got together, they then could
make it, provided that they did not let the proper time
slip away for their returning to the assistance of India

Afonso Dalboquerque approved of this opinion which the
captains had arrived at, and dismissed them to their ships
to make ready against the time when he should let them
know the day he had selected for the attack upon the city.

CHAPTER XXII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, on the morning of St. James's
day, attacked the city of Malaca, and what passed thereupon.

The great Afonso Dalboquerque was so devoted to the
Apostle St. James, that after it had been agreed by all that
the city should be attacked, he delayed the completion of
his preparations for some days, with the object of putting
his hands to this work on that saint's day, for he trusted
that through the prayers and merits of the saint, Our Lord
would give them victory over it, as He had done in the
capture of Goa. And when the time was come, he sum-
moned the captains and declared to them that he was
determined to attack the city upon the following day, which
was the day of the Apostle Saint James, and it was neces-
sary, before doing so, to discuss where and in what order
they must disembark, in order that every one should know
what duty was assigned to him.

The captains began to give their opinions, but as there
were various opinions among them, so that some said the
attack should be made on one side and others on the other,
Afonso Dalboquerque desired, before any final decision
should be made, that Ruy de Araújo, who had consider-

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102 a COMMENTARIES OF

able experience concerning the land, 1 should give his
opinion.

Ruy de Araújo declared that in his opinion they ought
first to attack the bridge before anything else, for if they
took that and made themselves strong in it, our people
would be placed just between the city and the inhabitants
of Upe, and the power of the king divided into two parts ;
for one could not render any assistance to the other except
by means of the bridge, which one hundred men, with small
barricades that they could set up in it, could defend against
every forcible attempt of the Moors that might be made ;
but if the attack upon the city were made at any other
parts, as some of the Lords who were there present advised,
Malaca was of such a size and possessed so many fighting
men in her population, that he, for his part, held the matter
as very doubtful of success, and all would run a risk of
being lost.

Without listening to any further advice, as soon as Afonso
Dalboquerque had heard Buy de Araujo's words, he agreed
with the opinion he gave, and immediately gave orders that
the captains, with their men in two battalions, should pro-
ceed to attack the bridge. D. João de Lima, Gaspar de
Paiva, Fernão Perez Dandrade, Sebastião de Miranda,
Fernão Gomez de Lemos, Vasco Fernandez Coutinho, and
James Teixeira, with other fidalgos and soldiers of the fleet,
to disembark on the side of the mosque ; while he himself,
with Duarte da Silva, Jorge Nunes de Lião, Simão Dan-
drade, Aires Pereira, João de Sousa, Antonio Dabreu,
Pêro Dalpoem, Dinis Fernandez de Melo, Simão Martinz,
Simão Afonso, and Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco, with all
the rest of the armed foroes, would disembark on the oifcy
side; and after an entry had been effected through the
stockades, one and all were to rush on towards the middle

1 Compare this with what is written of Buy de Araújo at the end of
chapter xxiv, p. 111.

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AP0N80 DÀLBOQUKRQUE. 103

of the bridge, until they could estimate the strength of the
enemy and in what direction their spirit led them, for in
an affair of which they had not yet seen the result, he
could not come to any other determination than ordering
this only, that where they saw his flag flying, there all
should concentrate themselves.

Having given these orders, he dismissed the captains to
go and get ready, and on the following day, when they heard
a trumpet sounded, come on board his ship so as to set
forth therefrom.

Two hours before the break of day Afonso Dalboquerque
ordered the trumpet to be blown, in order to awaken them,
and they embarked immediately with all the rest of the
men-at-arms and went on board his ship, and when a
general confession had been made, all set out together and
came to the mouth of the river just as morning broke, and
attacked the bridge, each battalion in the order which had
been assigned to it.

Then the Moors began to fire upon them with their artil-
lery, which was posted in the stockades, and with their
large matchlocks 1 wounded some of our men.

As soon as the first fury of their artillery was spent, the
great Afonso Dalboquerque gave order for the trumpets to
be blown, and with a war-cry of " Sanctiago", i.e., " Saint
James", they all, with one accord, fell upon the stockades
of the bridge, each battalion in its proper place, and from
on this side and on that an infinite number of Moors rushed
up, some with bows and arrows, and others with long lances,
and shields like those of Biscay, blowing their horns 2 and
trumpets, and for a good space of time they fought very
bravely, and defended the stockades; but our men, who
had disembarked on the side of the mosque, by dint of arms

1 Espingarddes ; the espingardâo was probably a large kind of espin-
garda, or matchlock, a word of frequent use throughout the text of the
Commentaries. * Anafis.

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104 COMMENTARIES OF

forced their way through them j 1 and at this very moment
the king of Malaca came up mounted upon an elephant, and
his son upon another, with a body of armed men, and ele-
phants armed with wooden castles, containing many war-
like engines, and compelled the Moors to return to tho
stockades which they had deserted.

D. Jo&o de Lima, Fernão Perez Dandrade, and all tho
others who were in that company were inspired with fresh
vigour at the sight of the king, and without auy fear
of his elephants attacked the Moors in so spirited a
manner, that they got possession of the mosque imme-
diately. Afonso Dalboquerque, who remained on the side
nearest to the city with all the other captains and men,
attacked the bridge on that side, and although his divi-
sion met with great resistance by reason of the presence
there of a large part of the force which had accom-
panied the king, very well armed, many of them with bows,
others carrying blowing tubes 2 with poisoned arrows,
wherewith they wounded a great many of his men, never-
theless anxiously emulating the captains of the other bat-
talion who had by this time become masters of the mosque
and the head of the bridge, they fell upon the Moors so
bravely that they got into their stockades by force of arras,
and killed many of them, and put them to flight. On our
side many were wounded, and some died of the poisoned
arrows.

1 ...... e defenderam as estancias; mas os nossos, que eram daqnella

banda da mesquita, por força darmos os entraram ; there ia probably a
typographical error in the latter part of this extract, for the os before
entraram refers to estancias, and should be as to agree with this word.

7 Zarvatanas com setas erradas; this word is also written Sarabatana,
and Zaravatana, by Vieyra, who calls it "a sort of speaking trumpet' 1 .

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AFONSO DALBOQUEKQUE. 105

CHAPTER XXIII.

How Tuáo Bandão, captain of the king of Malaca, perceiving the dis-
persion of the Moors, went to their assistance with a body of
soldiers, and what passed thereupon; and how the king took to
flight, and our men pursued him.

No sooner did Tuáo Bandão, captain of the king of
Malaca, who held a stockade on the bridge, bedecked with
flags of his colours, perceive the discomfiture of the Moors,
than he sallied out with seven hundred Javanese, and other
two captains with him, and went to reinforce the bridge on
the city side, with the intention of falling on our men in the
rear. When Afonso Dalboquerque caught sight of them
coming along one of the principal streets of the city, he dis-
patched from his company João de Sousa, Antonio Dabreu,
and Aires Pereira in command of their men, with orders to
fail upon the advancing body, and this they did so rapidly,
that before the Moors could get up as far as the stockades,
they fell upon them with the lance with such impetuosity
that they made them turn and fly.

D. João de Lima, and other captains who were on the
side of the mosque, when they saw these Moors, ran up to
attack them in front, and there and then killed several of
the body. The others, perceiving themselves cut off in
front and in rear, all threw themselves into the sea. And
the mariners, who were in the boats, came up without a
moment's delay and put them all to death, so that not a
single man was left, their captain, Tuáo Bandão, being
already dead, as well as the two captains who had set out
with him ; and when they had accomplished this business
they went back to the stockades.

D. João de Lima, and the others who formed his company,
seeing, after they had established themselves in the stock-
ades, that the king was retiring by a side path up the hill,

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106 COMMENTARIES OF

set out in pursuit after him, fighting with the Moors at'
every step. The king and his son, who were mounted upon
their elephants, saw that they were pursued by our men,
turned back again with two thousand men whom they
carried in their company. The Portuguese captains awaited
their coming at the head of a street, and with great efforts
and brave determination fell upon the elephants with their
lances, as they were coming on in the vanguard, and it is
related that Fernão Gomez de Lemos was the foremost in
this action ; and whereas elephants will not bear with being
wounded, they turned tail and charged the Moors behind
them and put them to rout. The elephant on which the
king was riding, mad with the mortal wound which it had
received, seized the black man who was guiding it with its
trunk, and roaring loudly, dashed him in pieces, and the
king being already wounded in the hand, sprang out of the
castle, but escaped because he was not recognised; and
thus he and his son, and the king of Pão, 1 his son-in-law,
who had come to Malaca but a few days^ before to marry
one of the king's daughters, retreated to the back of the
city.

Afonso Dalboquerque, with the rest of his men, — having
forced an entrance through the stockades, — followed up
after the Moors along a street which led to the bridge, and
killed many of them ; but because the men of the city, who
were fighting in the streets with our forces, were very
numerous, Afonso Dalboquerque, fearing lest his party
should begin to straggle, made them rally towards the
bridge, and ordered them to erect a palisade on the city
side ; and gave charge over it to Jorge Nunez de Lião and
Nuno Vaz de Castelo-branco, with orders for them to com-
mand one of the principal streets leading to the bridge with
their artillery.

When the Moors saw this they gathered themselves to-
1 This word is written Pam in the previous chapters.

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AFONSO DÀLBOQUERQUE. 107

gether in the other streets of the city, and Afonso Dalbo-
querque feeling himself at length free of them, gave orders
that another palisading should be erected on the side to-
wards the mosque, starting from the river to reach np to
the mosque, in such a manner that the bridge remained in
the middle [between this palisade and the one mentioned
above]. And while these palisadings were in progress of
formation, he sent Gaspar de Paiva with a hundred men to
set fire to the city from that side as soon as the sea-breeze
should begin to blow, and Sim&o Martinz with another party
of a hundred men, to set fire to the king's houses which
stood at the side of the mosque. When the fire gained
possession of one part and the other, it raged so fiercely
that it destroyed a great part of the city. As soon as the
Moors beheld the flames, they retired a long way off from
our men.

Here was burnt a wooden house, of very large size and
very well built with joiners' work, about thirty palms
breadth solid timber, all inlaid with gold, built up on thirty
wheels, every one of which was as large as a hogshead, and it
had a spire, which was the finishing-point of the building, of
great height, covered with silken flags, and the whole of it
hung with very rich silken stuffs, for it had been prepared
for the reception of the king of Pão and his bride, the
daughter of the king of Malaca, who were to make their
entry through the city with great blowings of trumpets and
festivities ; and in the houses of the king, and the other
houses round about, which were burned, there was con-
sumed by fire a great store of merchandise and other
things of great price, which the king had in his palace.
And when this was completed, they returned again to the
bridge where our men were stationed; and it was about
two hours after midday, and as yet the men had not eaten
anything.

The captains, to whom Afonso Dalboquerque had en-

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108 COMMENTARIES OF

trusted the duty of constructing the stockades, went to him
and told him that the men, being tired, and suffering from
the great heat, were by this time quite out of heart with
their work, and they recommended that they should with-
draw and take some rest. Afonso Dalboquerque put them
off, for he hoped to get the barricades completed, and so
pass the night there; but because they came again with
more earnestness to press this, he made a virtue of the
necessity ; and, the sun being now gone down, he began to
draw off his men to the boats. When the Moors perceived
that they were withdrawing, they began to open fire with
large matchlocks, arrows, and blowing-tubes, and wounded
some of our men, yet with all the haste they made Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered the men to carry off with them fifty
large bombards that had been captured in the stockades
upon the bridge ; and when the men had returned to the
ships, he ordered the wounded to be attended to — about
seventy in number — but of those who were struck with the
poisoned arrows, none escaped but one, Fernão Gomez de
Lemos, who was burned with a red-hot iron directly he was
struck, so that ultimately God spared his life.

CHAPTER XXIV.

How the king of Malaca, after the Portuguese had withdrawn to their
ships, began to reconstruct the stockades and fortified his position
on the bridge ; and of the message which Utemutaraja sent to the
great Afonso Dalboquerque.

Directly that all had retired into the ships, the king
ordered that the stockades should be reconstructed, and made
stronger than they had been before, and placed in them
double jbhe quantity of artillery, of which there was a great
supply in Malaca, as will be related hereafter, and ordered
the bridge to be divided into sections with very strong

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 109

palisades, and erect others in one of the principal streets
leading from the city to the bridge, and in them he placed
much artillery, and on the other side of the mosque he did
just the same, and on the shore side, where the landing-
place was situate, he ordered his men to throw down many
chevaux-de-frwe, full of poison, 1 to prick our men when they
made their landing. And because the Javanese, who com-
posed the principal soldiery under his command, were dis-
contented at not receiving their pay, in order to content
them, he ordered that they should be paid all that was due
to them of their pay, and three months in advance as well,
for he was in great dread lest Afonso Dalboquerque should
return again to attack the city. And while he was thus
occupied with the fortifying of his stockades, a Javanese
headman, who was called Utemutaraja, 8 who lived in the
settlement of TJpe, and had about five or six thousand
Javanese slaves of his own or of his sons and sons-in-law,
a very rich man, and one who traded very extensively to all
parts of the world, sent a present of sandal woods to Afonso
Dalboquerque, and secretly begged a safeguard for him-
self and for all that settlement wherein he lived, declaring
that he desired to have peace and friendship with him, and
to serve the king of Portugal in all that lay in his power.

Afonso Dalboquerque accepted his offer of friendship,
and sent him the safeguard and sometimes some presents,
always striving to keep him on our side. Now, although
the agreement which had been made with this man stipu-
lated that he should give no assistance, and show no favour
to the king of Malaca, after three days, Afonso Dalboquer-
que sent and told him that he had been informed that after

1 Mandou lançar muitos abrolhos, cheios de herva, etc. The word
herva is used in the concluding sentence of the previous chapter in the
signification of poisonous juice of herbs; but in this passage, although I
prefer the translation I give above, there is a possibility of the word
being used in the sense of grass or prickly brushwood.

* The latter part of this name is evidently the titular designation
rajah.

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110 COMMENTARIES OP

he had sent him the safeguard, he was nevertheless helping
the king with his men to make the stockades on the bridge,
which was not the thing that they both had agreed upon,
neither was it according to the law of friendship for him to
favour his enemies against him. Utemutaraja replied, that
it was true he was rendering certain assistance of men to
the king for constructing the stockades, but it was insigni-
ficant, and he only did so to put him off his guard, for by
no other means could he live in this, to him, a foreign land,
unless he performed this service.

But with all this provocation, Afonso Dalboquerque did
not cease to adhere to his promise of safeguard, and ordered
his captains that upon the inhabitants of the territory of
Utemutaraja they should make no requisition ; and this he
did, not because he had deserved any better treatment
than tl^e others, but in order to have a fewer number of
enemies in the city. And so also he gave the foreign
Moorish merchants to understand, that he had not ordered
a sacking of the city out of regard for them ; yet, neverthe-
less, if the king would not give way in his opinions, he, on
his part, could not restrain his men from destroying the
city when they made a second attack upon it. And so
from that time henceforward the merchants were the men
who counselled the king not to desire war, but to come to
terms, and make peace with Afonso Dalboquerque. But, as
the king was now obstinately bent on his purpose, he did not
fall in with their opinion, but told them that only a few
days back they had given him exactly the opposite advice.

When a few days had elapsed, Afonso Dalboquerque,
seeing that the king had not sent him any reply, though he
had already tasted the power and capability of the Portu-
guese, became anxious, for he was forcibly compelled for a
second time to risk his men in a danger like the past, to the
end that he might achieve the taming of the king's pride ;
and he had not in the land any means of building a fortress

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. Ill

— which it was his chief intent to do— neither could Ruy de
Araújo give any advice on these events, for all the time he
had been in captivity he had been shut up in a house. And,
on the other hand, he saw that leaving Malaca in the power
of the Moors meant total destruction to the trade of India
and to our ships. And with these perplexed thoughts,
which were constantly present in his mind, not knowing in
what kind of conclusion this enterprise against Malaca would
result, he placed everything in the hands of Our Lord, for
this was always the best remedy that he could find in all
his affairs ; and, putting his trust in Him, he began to give
orders and make himself ready in some matters which were
needful for the second attack upon the city.

CHAPTER XXV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque prepared himself for renewing the
attack upon the stockades which the king had set upon the bridge :
and how the Chinese desired of him permission to return to their
land : and of the ambassador whom he sent with them to the king
of Sião.

When Afonso Dalboquerque perceived that the king, be-
cause of the little account he made of the Portuguese — not
taking to heart the lesson of experience which he had had
the first day they attacked the city — was again setting up
stockades on the bridge, with men and artillery for its de-
fence, he determined in his invincible mind to attack it
again, and break their pride ; and, with this object in view,
he prepared a large junk, with many men and artillery, — be-
cause these vessels are very lofty,— and it was to be placed
in a position overtowering the bridge, in order that our men
might avail themselves of its shelter, and more securely be
able to attack the stockades which the Moors had built.
And he appointed Antonio Dabreu captain of the junk, and

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112 COMMENTARIES OF

ordered him to arrange in it lodging- places for the soldiers,
and provisions and all other things that were necessary for
that affair. For, if any great rain-storm should occur, they
could take shelter in it, and the supplies, of which they
were in great need, would not be lost. And for guard over
this junk he appointed a caravela, whereof Simão Afonso
was captain, and the great galley in which Duarte da Silva
went as captain, for its protection. And when all this was
ready he told Antonio Dabreu to sail up along the river and
pass over a spit of sand which lay before the bridge, while
he himself, with all the rest of the men, would follow up
close behind. But because the junk drew very deeply in
the water, and could not pass over the spit on account of
the neap tide, Afonso Dalboquerque desired, in order not to
lose any more time, to send another junk with less draught
of water, but this also could not pass over, so he was com-
pelled to wait for the spring tide. 1

When the king of Malaca saw that the junk could not
pass the sand-bank, and that for all that it remained there,
and did not go back again, he sent four barges full of firewood,
and pitch, and oil, to set it on fire, and as soon as the tide
began to run down they set them on fire, and let them go
on the turn of the tide down the river straight towards the
junk, and this they did for nine successive nights.

Now, as Afonso Dalboquerque observed the order in
which the Moors arranged themselves for the burning of
the junk, he ordered the captains, when they had withdrawn
each night, to make their arrangements for sleeping close
by him in their boats, and with bowsprits and harpoons
hung with iron chains to turn the fire-ships out of their
course as they came on in flames, so as to prevent the junk
from catching fire ; and they carried out this order so well
that this design of the Moors was of no effect. And while
this delay was going on, waiting for the spring tides, Afonso

1 Spring tides rise 11 feet, neaps 8& feet, at Malacca in the Roads. —
China Sea Directory, vol. i, p. 79, 1878.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 113

Dalboquerque ordered the iron-smiths, whom he had brought
from Goa, to set up their forges and begin to repair some
weapons which were out of order, and they made a magazine
for the crossbows, for they were in much need of it. And
he ordered the Factor of the Fleet to get ready barrels, 1
hatchets, hoes, picks, and all that was requisite, in order
that when they had gained the bridge they might imme-
diately set up stockades therein, and to arrange for the con-
struction of mantlets, to the end that under shelter of them
our men might go in better security from the enemy's bom-
bards, and when all was completed and ready, to cause every-
thing to be embarked on board of the large barques and
junks which he had taken.

And because Afonso Dalboquerque had been informed
that the King had determined, as soon as our men disem-
barked, to send down a number of watchboats and many
launches by night to set fire to our Fleet, he ordered Pero
Gonçalves, the Chief Pilot, with all the mariners, to go and
sleep on board the ships every night, and he would give
orders for a good look out to be kept over them, for if any
alarm should occur he could render assistance if required.

While Afonso Dalboquerque was engaged in arranging
all these matters the Chinese Captains went to him and
begged his permission for their departure, inasmuch as the
season of their monsoon had arrived, and they begged also
that he would of his kindness give permission likewise
for their taking a little pepper which they had in their ships
belonging to a Moorish merchant, a native of Malaca, from
whom they had received very good treatment; and to do
them a kindness he granted this permission, and gave
orders that they should have given to them all the supplies
which they needed for their voyage, and made them a
present of a few things which he yet had left from Portugal,
and desired them (seeing they were bent on going), to shape

1 Pipas.

VOL. III. I

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114 COMMENTARIES OF

their course for Sião, for he wished to send in their company
a messenger with letters for the Kiug.

They were very happy at this result, and promised him
that they would present the messenger to the King and
return very soon with the reply, and would highly extol the
prowess of the Portuguese and the little dread they had of
encountering the enemy's bombards.

Afonso Dalboquerque lost no time in making ready
Duarte Fernandez, who had been in captivity with Ruy
de Araújo and knew the language very well, and by him
he wrote to the King of Sião of the events which had taken
place in Malaca, and how his determination was to destroy
the city and build therein a fortress, and cast the Moors out,
and how pleased he would be if the people of his land [of
Sião] would come and live it, and that the King D. Manuel,
King of Portugal, his Lord, having been informed that he
was a Hindoo and not a Moor, had much affection for him
and desired to have peace and friendship with him, and had
ordered him [Afonso Dalboquerque], as to all the ships and
people of that kingdom desirous of trading in his ports,
that he was to grant them all the safeguard that they fouud
necessary. And by this Duarte Fernandez he sent the King
of Sião one of our swords, all mounted in gold and precious
stones, made after our fashion ; and Duarte Fernandez
having been thus despatched, the Chinese set forth for their
own land highly pleased with Afonso Dalboquerque.

^ CHAPTER XXVI.

The speech which the great Afonso Dalboquerque made to the Captains
and men of the Fleet for the second attack upon the city, and what
passed thereupon.

When the great Afonso Dalboquerque had all things
ready that were necessary for attacking the city again, it

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUB. 115

was reported to him that there were some among the
Captains who were in the habit of saying that they did not
think it of service to the King for them to maintain the
city nor to build a fortress within it. On being apprised of
this he ordered them to be called to his ship, with all the
Fidalgos and Cavaliers of the Fleet, and said to them : — l

" Sirs, you will have no difficulty in remembering that
when we decided upon attacking this city, it was with the
determination of building a fortress within it, for so it
appeared to all to be necessary, and after having captured
it I was unwilling to let slip the possession of it, yet,
because ye all advised me to do so, I left it, and withdrew ;
but being ready, as you see, to put my hands upon it again
once more, I learned that you had already changed your
opinion : now this cannot be because the Moors have de-
stroyed the best part of us, but on account of my sins,
which merit the failure of accomplishing this undertaking
in the way that I had desired. And, inasmuch as my will and
determination is, as long as I am Governor of India, neither
to fight nor to hazard men on land, except in those parts

1 Correa's version of this speech* which is given in the Lendas da
India, vol. ii, pp. 232-234, is worthy of perusal here as showing how the
two reports of the same event, each professing to be derived from
authentic sources, differ from each other: u Senhores capitães, e nobres
fidalgos, bem sabem vossas mercês que todo o estado d'El Bey nosso
senhor depende e está posto nas vossas mãos, em que está muy seguro de
nom receber quebra, nem falta, em quanto as vidas tiverdes nos corpos ;
do que darão bom testimunho os que viverem, e eu, que o tenho bem
visto com meus olhos, nunqua poderei dizer os grandes vossos mereci-
mentos ganhados com vosso sangue e tantos trabalhos, a que EIRey
nosso senhor vos he em muyta obrigac o, e satisfação que Sua Alteza
nom faltará. Bem sabem vossas mercês que nós hiamos pêra o estreito
de Meca, a que nos Sua Alteza mandava hir, com intento de sequar
aquella navegação, e passagem da pimenta e drogas que os mouros lá
passavão, que lhe fazem grande avesso a seus tratos ; ao que nos hiamos
com toda* vontade, e polo querer de Nosso Senhor tivemos contrastes de
ventos que nom consentirão que lá fossemos, e arribamos com tanto
trabalho, e porque se nom perdesse o gasto que era feito n' armada, per

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116 COMMENTARIES OF

wherein I must build a fortress to maintain them, as I have
already told you before this, I desire you earnestly, of your
goodness, although you all have already agreed upon what
is to be done, to freely give me again your opinions in
writing as to what I ought to do ; for inasmuch as I have
to give an account of these matters and a justification of
my proceedings to the King D. Manuel, our Lord, I am un-
willing to be left alone to bear the blame of them; and
although there be many reasons which I could allege in
favour of our taking this city and building a fortress therein
to maintain possession of it, two only will I mention to you,
on this occasion, as tending to point out wherefore you
ought not to turn back from what you have agreed upon.

". The first is the great service which we shall perform to
Our Lord in casting the Moors out of this country, and
quenching the fire of this sect of Mafamede so that it may
never burst out again hereafter; and I am so sanguine as
to hope for this from our undertaking, that if we can only
achieve the task before us, it will result in the Moors re-
signing India altogether to our rule, for the greater part of
them — or perhaps all of them — live upon the trade of this

conselho de vossas mercês bem atentado, foy assentado, pois tínhamos
tempo, que viéssemos esta viagem a Malaca, pêra livrarmos os cativos,
e tomar vingança d'esta cidade, dos mortos, e roubos que erâo feitos ;
onde Nosso Senhor aquy nos aportou, e sobre bons conselhos ávidos
cometemos esta guerra, que está no esta do que vedes, com que bem cer-
tos estaes que a cidade será nossa polo querer de Nosso Senhor. Mas
parece que averá algumas pessoas que farão duvida que sendo tomada
nom será possível fazer n'ella forteleza e a sostermos, o que se assy nom
fosse logo El Rey nosso senhor ficava com toda a perda, que são muytas;
a saber : o gasto d'armada, perda de sua gente, e sobre tudo estas perdas
sem nenhum frui to, que será grande sua perda, porque esta cidade he o
celeiro de todolas drogas e riqas mercadarias, que os mouros de todas
as partes da índia e do estreito de Meca aquy vem buscar, e levao suas
nãos carregadas, e passão per antre as ilhas, e se colhem ao estreito muy
seguro de os toparem nossas armadas, e as drogas que levão, que he
grande soma, correm polo Cairo, e a Veneza, e d'ahy a ponente e levante,
com que dão muy to abatimento ás drogas da casa da India, que vão ter a
Frandes. Outras drogas passãò a índia, que nos vendem por tresdobro

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUB. 117

country and are become great and rich, and lords of exten-
sive treasures. It is, too, well worthy of belief that as the
King of Malaca, who has already once been discomfited
and had proof of our strength, with no hope of obtaining
any succour from any other quarter — sixteen days having
already elapsed since this took place — makes no endeavour
to negotiate with us for the security of his estate, Our Lord
is blinding his judgment and hardening his heart, and
desires the completion of this affair of Malaca : for when we
were committing ourselves to the business of cruising in the
Straits [of the Red Sea] where the King of Portugal had
often ordered me to go (for it was there that His Highness
considered we could cut down the commerce which the
Moors of Cairo, of Meca, and of Judá, carry on with these
parts), Our Lord for his service thought right to lead us
hither, for when Malaca is taken the places on the Straits
must be shut up, and they will never more bo able to intro-
duce their spiceries into those places.

" And the other reason is the additional service which we
shall render to the King D. Manuel in taking this city,
because it is the headquarters of all the spiceries and drugs

do que aquy as comprgo a troco de roupas de Cambava que trazem ; do
qual trato de tantos anos os mouros de toda a Índia são grandes em
muytas riquezas com que sgo senhores nas terras, e dos corações dos
ReyB e senhores, com a qual possança nos tem feitos tantos malles em
Calecut, e por todolas partes da Índia, que se o poder grande d'estes
mouros nom fora, dormindo tivéramos a índia debaixo dos pés. Pois
que mòr serviço podemos fazer a Nosso Senhor em favor de nossa santa fé
senfio punirmos estes mouros, e seus tratos aquy os confundirmos e apa-
garmos, que percão este tamanho bem como lhe aquy tomamos? £ pois
está tão manifesto que este serviço nom faremos, indaque tomemos esta
cidade chea d'ouro, se a nom deixássemos segura com segura forteleza,
que durasse pêra sempre este tamanho serviço de Nosso Senhor, e d' El
Rey, e seus vassallos que n'estos partes militamos; tomaremos estes
tratos, com que nos faremos riquíssimos assy como o estão os mouros, e
com lhe assy tomarmos seus proveitos os hiremos deitando fora da índia,
que será quando a Nosso Senhor aprouver.

11 £ pois tomando nós agora esta cidade, com sua tanta riqueza, ser&
pêra nós grande honra e proveito, e d'El Key nosso senhor, que nos

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118 COMMENTARIES OP

which the Moors carry every year hence to the Straits
without our being able to prevent them from so doing ; but
if we deprive them of this their ancient market there, there
does not remain for them a single port, nor a single situa-
tion, so commodious in the whole of these parts, where they
can carry on their trade in these things. For after we were
in possession of the pepper of Malabar, never more did
any reach Cairo, except that which the Moors carried thither
from these parts, and forty or fifty ships, which sail hence
every year laden with all sorts of spiceries bound to Meca,
cannot be stopped without great expense and large fleets,
which must necessarily cruise about continually in the offing
of Cape Comorim; and the pepper of Malabar, of which
they may hope to get some portion because they have the
King of Calicut on their side, is in our hands, under the
eyes of the Governor of India, from whom the Moors cannot
carry off so much with impunity as they hope to do ; and I
hold it as very certain that if we take this trade of Malaca
away out of their hands, Cairo and Meca are entirely ruined,
and to Venice will no spiceries be conveyed except that
which her merchants go and buy in Portugal.

mantém, e sostem nossas gerações, e com sen tanto gasto aqny somos
aportados com esta armada, e com os poderes d'ella ganhámos, e El Rey
tudo ficaria perdendo se lhe nom déssemos premirias do seu gasto e
nossa obrigação, que lhe forçadamente devemos, que ha de ser aquy lhe
fazermos sua forteleza com nossos trabalhos, porque possamos dizer que
ganhámos esta cidade ás lançadas com nosso sangue, e lhe entregamos
arrematada pêra sempre em seu serviço, pedindolhe que este tamanho
serviço nos pague a nossos filhos e gerações, do que elle se nom poderá
escusar ; tudo, senhores, vos he presente, porque cada hum por seu
assinado me ha de dar sua determinação, pêra me eu livrar ante Sua
Alteza de quem me accusar. Pêra que sem duvida lhes affirmo que
indaque n'esta hora Malaca se me entregasse, com toda sua riqueza, a
não tomaria se n'ella nom ouver de fazer a milhor, e mais forte, e pos-
sante forteleza que ouver n'estes partes ; pois Malaca he a mais populosa
cidade da índia, que está no meo e estremo de todolas riqas mercadarias
e tratos que por ella correm. E pois, senhores, tudo lhe tenho apresen-
tado, vossas mercês agora se determinem no que façamos, porque eu
nada hey de fazer, senão o que per elles for assentado."

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 119

" But if 70a are of opinion that, because Malaca is a large
city and very populous, it will give us much trouble to
maintain our possession of it, no such doubts as these ought
to arise, for when once the city is gained, all the rest of the
Kingdom is of so little account that the King has not a
single place left where he can rally his forces ; and if you
dread lest by taking the city we be involved in great ex-
penses, and on account of the season of the year there be
no place where our men and our Fleet can be recruited, I
trust in God's mercy that when Malaca is held in subjection
to our dominion by a strong fortress, provided that the Kings
of Portugal appoint thereto those who are well experienced
as Governors and Managers of the Revenues, the taxes of
the land will pay all the expenses which may arise in the
administration of the city; and if the merchants who are
wont to resort thither — accustomed as they are to live
under the tyrannical yoke of the Malays — experience a taste
of our just dealing, truthfulness, frankness, and mildness,
and come to know of the instructions of the King D.
Manuel, our Lord, wherein he commands that all his sub-
jects in these parts be very well treated, I venture to affirm
that they will all return and take up their abode in the city
again, yea, and build the walls of their houses with gold ;
and all these matters which here I lay before you may be
secured to us by this half-turn of the key, which is that we
build a fortress in this city of Malaca and sustain it, and
that this land be brought under the dominion of the Portu-
guese, and the King D. Manuel be styled true king thereof,
and therefore I desire you of your kindness to consider
seriously the enterprise that ye have in hand, and not to
leave it to fall to the ground."

When the great Afonso Dalboquerque had brought his
harangue to an end in the words which I have recounted,
the Members of the council held among themselves divers
opinions, some leaning to this, and others to that side, and

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120 COMMENTARIES OF

the result of the meeting was that the majority again de-
clared that it would be of service to the King to take the city
of Malaca and cast the Moors out of it, and build a fortress
therein. The others were of a contrary opinion, and declared
that the city ought not to be again attacked, for it was very
doubtful if the undertaking could be accomplished, and
that the vengeance which had been meted out to the Moors
for their treatment of Diogo Lopez de Sequeira and his
men was sufficiently severe, and even if they had all things
necessary for the construction of the fortress there was not
time enough for its completion, for they were already at the
beginning of the monsoon, and it was absolutely necessary
to support India, for no one could tell how affairs at Goa
had gone on since they had set out from that city.

Afonso Dalboquerque, perceiving these differences of
opinion which were held in the council, yielded to the
majority and resolved to attack the city and fortify himself
in it, and as for all other doubts which were raised by the
opposite party, to put them into the hands of Our Lord
Jesus Christ that He might order them all as best to his
service, and he commanded that a formal resolution should
be drawn up by the Secretary, whereunto he put his signa-
ture, as did also all the Captains, Fidalgos, and Cavaliers
who were there.

CHAPTER XXVII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque again attacked the city according
to the resolution which had been arrived at, and how he entered
the bridge by force of arms and fortified himself on it.

Having taken the opinions of the Captains, Fidalgos, and
Cavaliers of the Fleet, under their signatures, as I have
related, the great Afonso Dalboquerque made up his mind
to attack the city, and taking it, by the aid of our Lord, to

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 121

fortify himself therein. And because the Moors were in an
advanced state of preparation, and had arranged a better
system of defence than they had on the first occasion when
our men made an entry into the city, he decided with all the
Captains to attack the bridge with his whole force in one
company.

Having agreed upon this method of attack, all went away
to their respective ships to get ready, waiting for the day
when it would be high water in the spring tides, so that the
junk could get up to the bridge ; and when the time was
come — on a Friday, two hours before morning — Afonso Dal-
boquerque gave orders for the signal which he had agreed
upon, to wake them, and they, as they were already prepared,
came on board his ship, and from it set forth all together in
their boats ; and when Antonio Dabreu in the junk had now
arrived within a crossbow-shot from the bridge, the Moors
began to open fire upon him from one side and the other
with large matchlocks, 1 blowing tubes, and poisoned arrows;
and with bombards which threw leaden shot as large as an
espera 2 they swept the decks of the junk from one side and
the other, and as Antonio Dabreu did not seek therein any
place of safety where he could avoid the shots which they
kept on pouring into the junk, he was the first who was hit
with a bullet from a large matchlock, which struck him on
the jaw and carried away many of his teeth and part of his
tongue.

Afonso Dalboquerque, who was in his boat close by the
junk, seeing Antonio Dabreu wounded, ordered him, more by
force than by his own wish, to be taken to the ship to have
his wounds dressed, and appointed Pero Dalpoem to go on
board the junk and act as Captain of it until Antonio Dabreu
was well again. When the delay that had thus arisen had

1 Espingardâes.

1 Espera or Esfera, an ancient kind of artillery — Bluteau, a. v. But
Bee also vol. ii, p. 129, note 5.

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122 COMMENTARIES OF

passed away — not much time having been wasted — they
went on again a second time with the junk leading the way,
in the order which they had appointed, and when the junk
drew up alongside, as it was very lofty and quite overhung
the bridge, as I have already said, the Moors, not being
able to bear the severe handling which our men gave them
from the round top of the mainmast 1 with many canisters of
gunpowder, and darts, 2 and matchlocks, fled, deserting the
bridge, and withdrew to the stockades which they had on
the bridge, on this side and that.

Afonso Dalboquerque, perceiving that the Moors were
beginning to fall into confusion, ordered the Captains to
press on more quickly at the oars, and all united in a body
set to work to fall upon the stockades, according to the
preconcerted arrangement. And although they found be-
hind them a great force of Moors, who defended them for a
considerable space of time with signal bravery, nevertheless
our men got into the stockades and routed those who held
them. In this affair of entering, many of our men were
wounded and two or three killed, but it was at the cost of
many Moors, who there lost their lives ; and Afonso Dalbo-
querque, seeing himself now master of the bridge, remained
where he was quietly with his flag and a part of his force,
and gave orders to certain of the Captains to go and take
the mosque, and to others to attack some palisades which
the Moors had set up at the mouth of a street which led to
the bridge, and that neither the one party or the other
should leave their stations without his express orders.

When the Captains arrived at the palisades, although they
met with some amount of resistance, yet they bore them-
selves so valiantly that they discomfited the Moors and
got possession of the works. The others, however, to whose
lot it fell to assault the mosque, found they had a heavy and

1 De cima da gavea ; see Jal, Glossaire NauHque, s.v. Gavea.
% Lanças de arremcço.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBEQUE. 123

troublesome task before them, for in that place of defence
there was the King with a large body of men and elephants,
and the defence was maintained so vigorously that a consider-
able space of time elapsed without our men being able to get
in. Afonso Dalboquerque, seeing from the bridge the circum-
stances in which our men were situated, made his way with
all haste at the head of all his forces to succour them, and
because at the mouth of a large street which led to the
mosque, where he was, there were many Moors pressing
on the flanks of certain Captains that were following
the King, who was in flight with three thousand men
armed with shields, he stayed himself there with his flag
and his men, and sent the Captains word to remain quiet
and rally towards the position he had taken up, for there
were yet many Moors on their flanks, and then they with-
drew at once ; and as soon as the junction of these forces
had been carried out, Afonso Dalboquerque left in charge
over the mosque and stockades Jorge Nunez de Lião, Nuno
Vaz de Castelo-branco, James Teixeira, and Dinis Fernandez
de Melo, with some of the men, while he himself, with the
rest that remained, returned towards the bridge; and he
ordered the Captains who were stationed on one side and on
the other to stay where they were and not fight with the
Moors, even if they came on and attacked them, until he
had fortified the bridge; and ordered four large barques
which he had, with great bombards, to pass over to the other
side and sweep the field on one side and on the other, and
cause the Moors to keep off so that the men could more
securely work at the stockades ; and having arranged this
he ordered them to take out of the junk all the munitions
which he had brought, and began upon the stockades ; and
as all went to work with willing hands, in a short space of
time he had made two very strong palisades, one on the side
of the city, the other on the side of the mosque, with barrels
filled with earth, and wood, and he arranged in them mauy

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124 COMMENTARIES OF

guns : and ordered that the bridge and the junk should be
covered with palm leaves, for the benefit of the men, for the
sun was very strong and he was fearful lest they should all
fall ill from the hard work they had to perform.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque ordered relief to be given to our
men who were stationed at the mouth of the street which led to
the bridge : and how Utamutaraja and Ninachatu, and other mer-
chants, seeing the overthrow of the city, came and placed them-
selves in his hands.

While the great Afonso Dalboquerque was thus occupied
in this eagerness to complete the fortification of the stock-
ades which he was making upon the bridge, he saw that the
Captains whom he had ordered to take up positions at the
mouths of the streets were undergoing, rather than disobey
his commands, much discomfort from the attacks made upon
them by the Moors with bombards which they had placed
upon the terraces of their houses, and with matchlocks with
which they were firing upon them, so he dispatched with
great haste Gaspar de Paiva, Fernão Perez Dandrade, Pêro
Dalpoem, Antonio Dabreu, who was now by this time well of
his wound in the jaw, to go and succour them with their
men, along one of the streets of the city, and D. João de
Lima, Aires Pereira, Simão Dandrade, Simão Martinz, and
Simão Afonso, along another street which led up to a place
where the Moors where at lance-thrusts with our men, and
to patrol through all the city and not to give quarter to a
single person they met, while he himself would come on
behind them in support, with his royal standard; and
although the Moors were very numerous, the Captains fell
upon them so valiantly that, not being able to resist the
fury of the onset with which they were attacked, they

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AFONSO DALBOQUE&QUE. 125

turned their backs and threw themselves into flight, and
some, indeed, among them, who were nearest to our men,
cast themselves into the sea, thinking that thereby they
ensured their safety.

The mariners, whom Afonso Dalboquerque had ordered
to man the skiffs and row up and down the river, came up
at once and put to death every one whom they could get at;
and when it was sundown the Captains withdrew to the
bridge, where they now had their stockades very strongly
built on one side and on the other, and Afonso Dalbo-
querque took up his quarters in the middle, and they passed
the whole of the night on the watch. And he ordered the
Captains of the barques that were stationed in the river to
keep up a continual fire upon the city all through the night
with their bombards, and Pêro Gonçalvez, chief pilot, to
take all the seamen to the ships to sleep there, and carry out
the same instructions regarding the cannonade, and in this
manner they remained all night. And it was a terrible
thing to look at the city, for on account of the constant
firing it seemed as if it were all on fire.

When morning came, the Moors, terrified at the unex-
pected misfortune which they witnessed, dared not appear
in the streets, and this went on for a period of ten days
running without any cessation by night or by day, and
during this time our men were continually spilling the blood
of the Moors, for inasmuch as the hunger they suffered was
extreme, they risked their lives to go and look for food in
the city, and there they lost their lives. And when they
perceived the troubles that had fallen upon them, and the
great peril they were in of losing their lives, and the hope-
lessness of their case, some began to come to Afonso Dalbo-
querque and beg for mercy; and the first who came were
the Pégus, and these he received very kindly and gave
them a safeguard to enable them to prosecute their voyage,
and permission to carry with them their property, and in

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126 COMMENTARIES OF

like manner he allowed all the merchants who came from
Cape Comorim to the eastwards, who had no ships there,
free exportation of their merchandize, and they began to
start their trade again, and revive the navigation from their
lands to Malaca, and this was the principal reason why he
did so.

Utemutaraja, as I have already said, who had a safe-
conduct from Afonso Dalboquerque, seeing the destruction
of the city, and fearing that he should incur displeasure
because his son had gone over to the assistance of the King
against our men — although indeed he was well rewarded for
it, for he was severely wounded and many of his men were
killed — came and made excuses for the behaviour of his son,
making a show of being highly delighted at the ruin which
had fallen upon the King. He received him with benignity,
but nevertheless gave orders to the Captains to go always
armed with all their men, and keep a good look out, for
there could be no reliance placed upon him. Euy de Araújo,
remembering the kindnesses which he and the other christ-
ians had received at the hands of Ninachatu, a Hindoo by
nation, during their captivity, brought him to Afonso Dal-
boquerque, begging that he would show him favour and
honour him, for he could not repay him in any other way for
the kindness of the treatment he had experienced. Afonso
Dalboquerque entertained him, and told him that he would
promise, before he left for India, he should be rewarded in
accordance with what Euy de Araújo had said of him.

And when Afonso Dalboquerque found himself less
troubled by the uproars which the Moors caused by day
and night, and that there was no longer in the city any
force which could resist them, and as a recompense for past
labours, he gave permission to everyone to sack the city,
and free power to keep or dispose of everything they took,
only warning them not to touch the houses or the subter-

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AFONSO DALBOQUEBQUB. 127

ranean storehouses 1 of Ninachatu. When the city had been
sacked, certain merchants, who had fled away to their
country houses, seeing the kind way in which Ninachatu
had been treated, sent and begged a safe-conduct from
Afonso Dalboquerque that they might come to the city; and
he granted this to all, except the Malays, who were natives
of the country, for as to these he gave orders that all should
be put to death wheresoever they were found.

In this second time of taking the city, many of our men
were wounded, and some of those who were wounded with
poison died, but all the others were cured, because Afonso
Dalboquerque took very good care to give orders for their
cure, and of the Moors,women and children, there died by
the sword an infinite number, for no quarter was given to
any of them. Three thousand pieces of artillery were taken,
and among them there were about two thousand in bronze,
and one very large gun which the King of Calicut had
sent to the King of Malaca. The rest were of iron, of
the fashion of our beiços, and all this artillery had its proper
complement of carriages, which could not be rivalled even
by that of Portugal. Large matchlocks, poisoned blowing
tubes, bows, arrows, armour-plated dresses, 2 Javanese lances,
and other sorts of weapons, it was marvellous what was
taken, besides much merchandize of every kind.

1 Gudâes. Storehouses or rooms built partly above and partly under
ground. For example, in Correa's account, when Afonso Dalboquerque
laments that the fire will destroy the riches of the city : — " Se o fogo
nos der a cidade, elle levará todo o bem que ella tem de riqueza, com
que a gente ficaria com trabalho e sem proveito. 11 Ruy d' Araújo lhe
dixe : " Senhor, posto que se queime Malaca, inda o milhor ficará, que
está nos gudões, gue são casas de pedra fortes e meãs feitas debaixo do
chão." — Lendas da índia, tom. ii, p. 236. And again, during the progress
of the sacking : u Os capit&es, com suas quadrilhas de seus navios, ajun-
tavão e metião fato em grandes casas pêra depois o mandarem embarquar.
Estas fazendas estavSo em casas que tinhâo meãs feitas debaixo do chão,
per cyma argamassadas por resguardo do fogo" — 76., p. 247.

* Laudeis de laminas.

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128 COMMENTARIES OF

All this, and more which I leave, not to be prolix, Afonso
Dalboquerque ordered to be divided among the Captains
and among all the people of the Fleet, without taking any-
thing for himself, except six large lions in bronze which he
took for his tomb, and the bracelet, which I have already
described, 1 and young girls of all the races of that country,
and some toys, all which he took to send them to the
King D. Manuel and to the Queen D. Maria, but they were
lost in the ship Flor de la Mar, on the voyage back to India,
as I shall narrate hereafter.

Let not those who read this writing be astonished when I
say that in Malaca were taken three thousand guns, for Buy
de Araújo and Ninachatu declared to Afonso Dalboquerque
that there were eight thousand in Malaca, and this may well
be believed, for in Malaca were much copper and much tin,
and the gun founders were as good as those of Germany; on
the other hand, the city was a league in length, and when
Afonso Dalboquerque disembarked they aimed at him from
on all sides, whence it appears that even this number was
insignificant in comparison to what was required for the
defence.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Of how, after the Prince of Malaca had withdrawn from hia father,
he came to the river of Muar and fortified himself therein with a
number of stockades, and the great Afonso Dalboquerque sent a
force against him, and put him to flight. ,

The great Afonso Dalboquerque, being desirous of setting
the affairs of Malaca in order, determined to appoint Nina-
chatu, because he was a Hindoo, Governor of the Quilins 2

1 See pp. 61, 62.

a In the view of Malaca given by Corrêa, Lendas da India, vol. ii, p.
250. The u povoacS dos quyllys" is marked on the left of the city, and
separated from it by a palisade. See also supra, p. 81, note 1.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEBQUE. 129

and Chetins ; l and in order to make the Moors more secure
he made Utemutaraja their principal- chief, and with these
two men, as they were prominent persons, the people began
to settle down quietly, and merchants, a few at a time, re-
turned to the city ; but with all this Afonso Dalboquerque
did not put too much confidence in them, especially in
Utemutaraja, and in order to get rid of this suspicion which
he had, he tried all he could to get the king into his hands,
and with this end in view he sent many boats up the river
and along the coast to see if they could take him.

The king, owing to the constant alarms which arose
every day, and knowing the desire which Afonso Dalbo-
querque had of getting possession of him, fearing lest his
own people should deliver him up, drew himself off from
the city, a day's journey, taking with him some Malay mer-
chants and his captains and governors of the land, with the
intention of keeping in that neighbourhood, waiting for his
Lassamane, the Admiral of the Sea, whom he had sent to
the Island of Lingá, 2 to convey to them a numerous fleet
with many men, and in their company the King of that
Island who was called Rajalingá, 8 who was subject to him,
with determination of returning against the city; but this
did not come to pass, for the Rajalingá, knowing that
Afonso Dalboquerque was in possession of the city, did not
dare to come; and the King of Malaca, being of the opinion
that Afonso Dalboquerque simply meant to rob the city and
then leave it and sail away with the spoil he might get out
of it, kept about that place for a space of ten days, in ex-
pectation of the issue of these events. But when he was
informed that Afonso Dalboquerque was beginning to estab-
lish a fortress of timber 4 wherein to shelter himself, and so

' See vol. ii, p. 130, note 2.

» Linga Island, Sumatra, deg. 10 min. S., 104 deg. 45 min. E.,
lying to the south of Singapore.
» This name is evidently but a title, " The Rajah of Lingá".
« See p. 135.
VOL. III. K

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130 COMMENTARIES OF

acting as to shew his wish to make a settlement in Malaca
with the intention of maintaining possession of it, terrified
at this news, and not deeming himself safe in the locality
where he then was, he went further off into the interior
country, a distance of two days' march ; and because the
party was sharply pressed for want of provisions the Prince
separated himself from his father and set] out to pitch his
settlement close to the river, and there he marked out some
very strong stockades, and barred the river with a quan-
tity of timber, so that our boats might not pass up to the
place.

As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque was informed that the
Prince of Malaca was fortifying his position on the river, he
despatched Fernão Perez Dandrade, Simão Dandrade, his
brother, Gaspar de Paiva, Francisco Sarram, Aires Pereira,
Ruy de Araújo, and Jorge Nunez de Lião, with four hundred
Portuguese soldiers, and six hundred Javanese who were
given for the purpose by XJtemutaraja, and the Pégu Cap-
tains with three hundred of their men, to take boats and
launches up the river and put to rout that nest of robbers
which was beginning to form itself there, and they did so ;
and when the expedition reached the stockade which the
Prince had constructed, they began to root it up with ma-
chines which they took with them for this purpose, and
when they had rooted it up, they pressed on to attack the
enemy at their fortifications.

The Prince, when he saw the fleet and the determined
spirit with which the men came on, struck his camp, with-
out making the least show of resistance, and fled away to
the place where the King was, which was about a day's
journey distant, and our men entered in pell-mell into their
buildings, and captured all that had been stored there which
the Prince had been unable to remove ; among their spoil
his palanquins, very rich and gilded, and painted, and seven
elephants, with their castles and housings ; and having ob-
tained this victory the force returned to the city.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 131

When the Prince reached the place where the King his
father was, there arose differences between them concerning
the loss of Malaca, each one seeking to put off the fault
from his own to the other's shoulders, and this dissension
ran so high, that being thus divided in plans, and suffering
also from the discomforts of famine, they departed and
shaped their journey for the kingdom of P&o, through a
region desert and marshy, mounted upon their elephants
with their wives and children, taking with them fifty men
whom they forced to accompany them in their flight.

CHAPTER XXX.

How the King of Malaca, after the Portuguese had gained the city from
him, withdrew to the kingdom of Pab, and dispatched an Ambassador
to the King of China, begging for succour.

The King of Malaca, having arrived at the kingdom of
Pfto, and seeing that there was no remedy for his misfor-
tunes, determined to dispatch an Ambassador to the King
of China, begging for succour, that he might be enabled to
recover the city which he had lost, reminding him, with the
object of obtaining a favourable reply to this request, of the
ancient friendship which the Kings of Malaca had always
kept up with those of China, and of the obedience which
ijhey had shown them as their vassals ; and in order to give
a greater appearance of authenticity to this embassy, he
desired that it should be accompanied by one of his uncles,
whose name was Tuâo 1 Nacem Mudaliar, in whom he re-
posed the highest confidence ; and he, after receiving his
order to depart, went and proceeded to embark at the river
of Muar, 8 whence he set sail in a junk with his wife, accom-
panied with certain Moors in his retinue; and when he

1 This is the common Malay word for Lord or Master.
* The river in Malaca, on which the city of Pahang or Pão is built.

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132 COMMENTARIES OF

reached the city of Cantão, 1 which is the port of China
whither all those who sail to those parts are accustomed to
make land, the Governors of that city — in accordance with
the ancient custom which they keep up — immediately sent off
a messenger to the King, who was in the interior a distance
of a hundred and eighty leagues, giving him notice of the
arrival of the Ambassador of the King of Malaca, and ask-
ing that word of the King's pleasure as to what should be
done might be sent, for the custom of China is that not
a single stranger can pass beyond that port nor go to the
King without his permission.

The messenger whom the Governor despatched reached
the city of Pequim, 2 where the king was, and delayed on
the journey two months, and then returned with the reply
to the Governors, to the effect that they were to permit the
ambassador, with the retinue in his company, to pass through
the kingdom, and to give them everything that they
required for their journey. When the ambassador received
this reply, he lost no time in making his preparations, and
set out with his wife on the road for the Eoyal Court, and
kept continually traversing along the bank of a river 8 where
there were very noble cities and very sumptuous edifices,
of which I do not treat because it has nothing to do with
this history. On the arrival of the ambassador at the Court,
he was very well received by all the Lords and Governors
of the land ,* and after some days had elapsed the King
desired to receive him in person, although this was not his
usual custom, for no one sees him, and business is trans-
acted by the men who govern the land. And after the
ambassador had performed his courtesy to the King after

1 Canton, or Quangtung, 23 deg. 12 min. N., 113 deg. 17 min. £.

2 Pekin, or Shun-tien, China, 39 deg. 53 min. N., 116 deg. 29
min. £.

3 This probably refers to the Yang-tsze-kiang, which is connected by
the Yun-ho, Sha-ho, or Grand Canal, with the Yun-ho, or Eu-ho River,
on a branch of which the city of Pekin is built.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 133

the manner and custom of the Chinese, he threw himself at
the King's feet, and with many tears begged him that he
would be pleased to assist the King his lord in his present
trouble, for in him he placed all his confidence.

The King ordered him to rise, and told him to relate
all the history of the affair in order. He related it to him,
for he had been an eyewitness of it all, and told him that
the King his lord, after he had been overcome, had retired
to the kingdom of Pão, and there he remained waiting, in
the hopes that he (the King of China) would turn a favour-
able ear to him, and assist him, with men and a fleet, to
recover possession of the kingdom, to be revenged for the
affronts which the Captain of the King of Portugal had
given him; and although the King of China had already
been informed, by the Chinese who had come from Malaca,
of all that had taken place, he was glad to hear the ambas-
sador, and he enquired very particularly of him concerning
the person and authority of £he great Afonso Dalboquerque
and of the Portuguese, what sort of men they were, and
what was their manner of fighting.

The ambassador, as he was a discreet man, gave him a
very good account of everything, whereat he was very well
satisfied. And when these conversations were over, the
King told him to go and enjoy himself, for he would dis-
patch him and do everything that he wished, but really he
was unwilling to give his word that he would help the King
of Malaca, for his intentions and desires were to keep on
friendly terms with the King of Portugal and with his
Captain Afonso Dalboquerque, and to send some persons to
visit him, as well because of the great news which he had of
his person, as also because of the good treatment that he
had shewn to the Chinese whom he had found in the port
of Malaca, and his desire to open the commerce in his
land. And one thing which greatly helped this policy of
the King of China was the complaints which the Chinese

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134 COMMENTARIES OF

merchants made of the tyrannies that the King of Malaca
had practised upon them in the matter of their merchandise,
in the time when they were in his territory.

The ambassador spent a long time at the Court with-
out being able to get dispatch of his business, and
during this time his wife died ; and after some days had
elapsed the King replied to him, through the officials,
excusing himself from granting the succour which was
asked of him, and giving his reasons why he could not do
it, and the chief reason was the war that was on hand
against the Tartars. With this reply the ambassador set
out without loss of time, and when he arrived at the city of
Janquileu, and bethought himself of the unfortunate result
of his mission and of his departed wife, he died of sheer
grief, having given orders to build a chapel for his inter-
ment in the outskirts of the city, and therein he lies buried
in a sepulchre surrounded by steps of lateen, on which he
ordered an inscription to be placed, which reads : t€ Here
lies Tuâo Nacem, Ambassador and Uncle of the great King of
Malaca, whom death carried off before he covld be avenged
upon the Captain Afonso Dalboquerque, lion of the sea
robbers/ 9

CHAPTER XXXI.

How the King of Malaca, having arrived at the kingdom of Pão, died ;
and how the great Afonso Dalboquerque began to build the fort-
ress ; and the inscription which he placed over the gate after it was
finished, and what passed hereupon.

As disasters kept following this ill-fated King of Malaca,
Fortune not being content with placing him in the position
of losing his city, wife, children and people, disheartened
and deeply chagrined at his losses, after he had arrived but
a few days at the kingdom of Pfto, he died. When the
King was dead, all the Moors of honourable estate, who had

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AFONSO DA.LBOQUEBQUE. 135

followed his fortune, scattered themselves through the forests
there, and after the lapse of some days came down, seek-
ing to get to the sea coast, and sent to beg permission from
Afonso Dalboquerque that they might return to their city ;
and to some of them, who were men of principal power, he
granted permission, for he considered it was more prudent
to have such men as these within the city, than that they
should be going about outside, stirring up assemblies and
inciting the merchants not to come to the port ; he there-
fore commanded the Javanese to band themselves together
and scour the land, and bring back captive all the Malays
found in the wpods there, to work at the building of the
fortress which he was anxious to begin ; and if among these
captives any one should chance to be found who could be
recognised as having taken a guilty part in the massacre of
the men forming the company of Diogo Lopez de Sequeira,
Afonso Dalboquerque commanded that proper punishment
be meted out to him, and that the others, with iron chains
upon them, should serve at the work.

And in company with them there were brought to him
one thousand five hundred slaves who had belonged to the
king, with their women and children, and he took them all
as captives of the King D. Manuel, just as they had been
of the King of Malaca, and ordered that they should be
supplied with wages and provisions when they worked at
the building, in accordance with the native custom; and
when they were not thus required to serve they worked for
their own advantage, for after this manner they had been
compelled to serve the King of Malaca ; and when he had
thus arranged these matters, he ordered them to take off
from the fortress the timber 1 and woodwork which it carried
for the protection of the men who were employed on the
work, and to make ready lime, stone, and masonry for a
beginning; and although Euy de Araújo never expected
to be able to find sufficient stone to build the fortress, yet

» See p. 129.

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136 COMMENTARIES OF

as it was the will of our Lord that the Portuguese should
make good their settlement in that city, and that His name
should there be worshipped, so great a quantity of stone
and masonry was discovered in some ancient sepulchres
of bygone kings, which were situated on the land beneath
the surface of the ground, and in the mosques that were
thrown down, that two fortresses might well have been con-
structed ; and now, as there were plenty of helping hands
to begin the work, and many labourers, Afonso Dalbo-
querque gave orders to open out the foundations, and he
founded a very strong fortress, the foundation filled in to
the depth of a war lance, for the position of the ground
required it to be so, with two wells of very good water
within the precincts for drinking purposes, that were there
already built with worked stone masonry.

And in order that our men, who were within the fortress,
might be able to rally together for defence, if it were
necessary, whenever they so desired, without the enemy
being able to cut them off, he laid the foundation of a keep 1 of
four storey's height along the sea, so that also from its height
they might with their artillery defend a hill which the
fortress has over against it, which commands its position.

Now because it may be that some who read this history
may find fault with building a fortress in an enemy's
country with such a weak point, the answer is that Afonso
Dalboquerque put up with the commanding position of this
hill because there was not in the whole of the city a more
commodious place for the security of the captain and the
forces that might be placed therein, for alongside of this
tower one of our ships of two hundred tons burden could
come whenever it was desired. And they called the fortress
f ' A Famosa", i.e., " The Famous." And as I have been
told by many persons who nave seen it, it seems to have
been very appropriately so called ; but I do not give a
1 Torre de Menagem; Bee vol. i, p. 45.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 137

special account of its details of construction because it is
very much frequented by our Portuguese. And because
Afonso Dalboquerque was very much devoted to Our Lady
he ordered the men to build a church, to which he gave the
name of " Nossa Senhora da Annunciada", i.e., " Our Lady
of the Annunciation." And in order that the memory of
the persons who had taken part in the conquest of this
kingdom and foundation of the fortress might remain for
ever, he ordered them to make a very large stone slab,
upon which were inscribed the names of all the principal
men. But, the Portuguese are by nature envious of honour,
they would not, therefore, suffer Afonso Dalboquerque to
make more account of one than of another, seeing that all
were equally meritorious in the work, and in the conquest
of that city ; and he, in order not to give them cause for dis-
pleasure, and yet not to abandon that which he had done,
gave orders that the stone should be set up over the gate-
way with the inscribed names turned to the wall, and on
the back of the slab that verse of David, which says : " La-
pidem QUEM BEPROBAVERUKT EDIFICANTES/' that is, "The

stone 1 which the builders refused."

CHAPTER XXXII.

Eow the great Afonso Dalboquerque, at the request of the Governors
and people of the city, ordered* money to be coined ; and of the
value thereof, and of the rest that was done thereupon.

While the affairs of Malaca were in this state, Ninachatu
came to the great Afonso Dalboquerque with the Governors
of the land, and declared to him that the people were suffer-
ing great inconvenience from the want of a currency, and
they begged he would of his graciousness give orders for
some system of coinage ; and although he had already for
1 Psalm cxviii, 22 (cxvii Vulg.).

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138 COMMENTARIES OF

many days desired this himself, yet, as the work of building
the fortress occupied the whole of this time, he had put this
matter off to a more fitting opportunity, when he should
have less to occupy his attention ; yet because the necessity
which they represented to him was very urgent, and the
people could not improve their condition without a currency,
he desired to set to work and arrange the matter without
loss of any more time, as well because it was a royal privi-
lege of the King, D. Manuel, and of his victory in a kingdom
newly acquired, whereof he was by right the king 1 , so also
in order to withdraw and suppress the coinage of the Moors,
and cast their root and their name out of the land.

Having made up his mind concerning this, Afonso Dalbo-
querque ordered that all the merchants, governors, and
principal men of the city should be called together, and
held a conversation with them respecting their desires ex-
pressed to him ; and after many different opinions had been
given by them all, they agreed to the opinion of all the
captains who were there present, that a coinage should be
made, and that out of two caixes, 2 which was a pewter coin
of the King of Malaca, should be struck a coin with the
sphere? of the King D. Manuel, to which they gave the
name of dinheiro (i.e., money), and another, of greater size,
which was worth ten dinheiros, they termed soldo* and
others, which weighed ten soldos, they entitled lastardos ;
and all this money was of pewter, which is found native in
the land of Malaca, and the 4 mines of this metal he made
direct Crown property of the King of Portugal.

And because there was not in Malaca any gold or silver
coinage, but trade was carried on by barter of one kind of
merchandise for another, they agreed that there should be

1 Maimonides, Gezelah, 5. " Ubicunque numisma alicujus regis ob-
tinet, illic incolse regem istum pro domino agnoscunt." Quoted by Farrar,
Life of Christ, ii, 232, n. « See p. 77.

3 Espera, see vol. ii, p. 129. * Cf. Lat. Solidus ; Fr. Sou.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUE. 139

such a coinage ; and after much disputation concerning the
value that should be assigned to it, the opinion which found
favour with everyone was that the gold coin should weigh
a quarter of a tundiá, which is worth among us a thousand
reis, and to this they gave the name of Catholico ; and the
silver coin the merchants thought well to be that of Pegu,
which is somewhat less than that of Castelete, but upon
this point there were several opinions given on both sides ;
but Afonso Dalboquerque appointed that this coin should
be made of merchantable silver, so that if the Kings of
Portugal should desire to send silver for sale to Malaca, on
account of the high value it would fetch, they could do so.

The merchants, although this high value of the silver was
against them, assented to the opinion expressed by Afonso
Dalboquerque, and agreed that the silver coin should be
called Malaqueses, i.e., Malaca pieces, and should have the
same value of a quarter of tundia; and in order that cur-
rency of the coinage of the Moors might be immediately
stopped everywhere, especially that of pewter, which was
the most common in use in the land, Afonso Dalboquerque
gave orders for the establishment of a house for the mint,
and that all the Moors who held coin of the King of
Malaca should convey it thither without delay under pain
of death ; and so great a quantity of money was thus carried
there out of fear of the penalty which had been appointed
to them, that the officers could not dispatch their business
fast enough, and in a short time a great quantity of silver,
gold, and copper had been recoined. 1

1 Correa's description of the coinage differs in some respects from this
text. He says : — " Em Malaca nom corria nenhuma moeda d'ouro nem
de prata, porque todo se compraua, e vendia, as mercadorias humas a
troqo d'outras, e as miudezas do bazar de comer se comprauSo per huma
moeda d'estanho, a que chamauão calayns. O Gouernador mandou
laurar d 1 esta moeda assy miúda, e outra de dez soldos, a que pôs nome
bastardos, e de hum lado a espera e de outro hum A grego. Fez moeda
d'ouro de valia de mil e corenta reaes, e n'clla huma mea fegura de Key

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140 COMMENTARIES OF

When Afonso Dalboquerqne had been informed by the
officials as to the quantity of coin which they had in hand,
he ordered the Governors of the land to be summoned, and
told him that he had given orders for minting a large sum
of money, in accordance with the advice of every one, and
that it was necessary to send forth a proclamation concern-
ing it throughout the city with that solemnity which belonged
to the estate of the King D. Manuel his lord. The Governors
agreed that upon the morning of the following day the
change in the currency should be proclaimed, and all the
principal men of the people met together, and made their
way to the fortress, where Afonso Dalboquerque was with

com coroa, e huma espada na mão, e letras que dizião derrador, com esta
conquistada e ganhada, e da outra parte o escudo das quinas, e
letras derrador que dizião, Gloria pêra Sempre Memoria. A esta
moeda pôs nome católica, e d'esta fez meos catalicos de preço de quin-
hentos e vinte reaes, a que pôs de huma parte a espera com letras que
dizião, Espera em Deos pêra mais, e da outra banda o A grego, e
letras que dizião, O escravo ganha pêra o senhor. Estas moedas
lauradas erâo muy f ermosas, de que mandou laurar huma soma. E fez
moeda de prata de setecentos e vinte reaes, de huma banda as quinas
sem coroa, e da outra banda espera com as mesmas letras, que chamou
reaes brancos, e meos reaes." — Tom. ii, p. 256. From this extract we
get the following values :—

10 Soldos = 1 Bastardo (pewter).
1,040 reaes = 1 Catholico (gold).
520 reaes = 1 half Catholico (gold).
720 reaes = 1 real branco, i.e., white real (silver).

Scheme of the Portuguese Coinage of Malaca,
deduced from the foregoing text.

PEWTER.

2 CaixeSy or Cash = 1 Espera = 1 Dinheiro.
10 Dinheiros = I Soldo.

10 Soldos = 1 Bastardo.

SILVER.

1 Malaquese = J Tundia.

GOLD.

1 Catholico = i Tundia = 1000 Rets (Portuguese).

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 141

all the Captains, Fidalgos, and Cavaliers of the Fleet, and
from that place they began their procession in the following
order.

There went first, in front of all the people, one of the
principal Governors of the City mounted upon an elephant
with his castle caparisonéfl with silk, and carrying in his
hands a flag of the arms of the King of Portugal upon a
long spear, and behind him went all the people on foot on
one side and the other, as it were in a procession ; and in
the midst of these people there went a Moor mounted upon
another elephant, likewise caparisoned with silk, making the
proclamation; and behind this one came the trumpets; and
after them the Governors of the City, and all the Merchants,
and principal men thereof; and at the rear of this throng
there went Antonio de Sousa the son of João de Sousa of
Santarém, and the son of Ninachatu, both together upon a
large elephant, which had been kept for the King's own use,
with his castle caparisoned with brocaded cloths, and they
carried with them a large quantity of gold, silver, and cop-
per coin, which they kept on throwing out over the heads of
all the people at each publication of the proclamation which
the Moor made. The crowd was so great that the streets
could scarcely contain it, and with many songs and blowing
of horns, according to the native custom, the people gave
great praise to Afonso Dalboquerque for giving orders for
this distribution of money by the advice and in accordance
with the opinions of their natives.

When the publication of this money was finished the
Pegus begged permission of Afonso Dalboquerque to depart
to their own country, and he granted it to them, and shewed
them great honour and kindness, whereat they were very
pleased, and gave him great thanks for what he had done
for them when the city was sacked, in not permitting that
their houses and merchandise should be robbed, which
indeed was of no small importance, for it amounted to a

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142 COMMENTARIES OF

thousand miticaes 1 of gold, apart from the sums of gold and
silver which they had concealed.

When Afonso Dalboquerque had taken his leave of them,
they set forth promising him that they would very soon re-
turn to that port with much merchandise, and would en-
deavour to bring him a very large junk, which was being
built in their country for the King of Malaca. And there
remained behind in Malaca one of the sons of the Pilot, a
youth of good breeding, with a hundred Pegus, and he
learned our Portuguese language; and he was so curious to
see everything that the principal reason why he stayed be-
hind was to see our fortress completed, and he was always
at work upon it with his men, whom Afonso Dalboquerque
ordered to be liberally repaid for their labour.

Of this gold which I have spoken of above as coming to
Malaca, the larger part comes from a mine of Menamcabo,
which is at the extremity of the island of Samatra, on the
southern side, fronting opposite to Malaca, a sea voyage of
six days 4 distance, and it also comes from the kingdom of
Pão, and in all the islands round about Malaca there is gold,
but only a little. The Gores and the Chinese also bring it.
The silver comes from the kingdom of Sifto, and from the

i Roquette, who gives the forms — Ma tical, metical, medegal, and
metigal, — considers this to be an Asiatic weight of one drachm and a half
for pearls, amber, etc.

Bluteau describes the Matical or Metical, as a coin or weight of gold,
current in Mozambique, and worth 480 reis, according to João dos
Santos in the Ethiopia, f ol. 63, col. 3 ; and records that in the same place
the above historian speakB of " quatorze maticaes que são seis mil e seis
centos reis"; from this latter passage we may deduce nearly 472 reis to the
metical. (Jndcr metical, Bluteau quotes two passages from Portuguese
authors : (i) João de Barros, Década i, 68, 2, to the effect that 30 me-
ticais are equal to about 14,000 reis. This would give only 466 J reis to
the metical. (ii) Damião de Goes, foi. 23, c. 4, that each metical is
worth 240 reaes da nossa moeda. If the real is equal to two reis, this
value of the metical agrees with that assigned to it above by João dos
Santos.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 143

kingdom of Pegú, where there are many mines of it, and
its quality is as good as that of Castelete.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

How the merchant» and all the noble Moors of the city complained to
the great Afonso Dalboquerque of the tyrannies which Utemutaraja
exercised in the land, and how he had in his power all the supplies,
and of many other things which he did.

When some days had elapsed, after the fortress was raised
to such a height that it could defend itself against its ene-
mies, they came from time to time to declare to the great
Afonso Dalboquerque that Utemutaraja was planning some
treachery in concert with the King Alaoadim, who had suc-
ceeded to the kingdom after the death of his father King
Mahamet, who had died in Pão, as I have already related,
with the intention of rising up in conjunction against us,
and for the better proof of this matter they gave him a
letter which the Utemutaraja had written to the King, and
the reply to it

The substance of this letter was Utemutaraja' s excuses to
the King for the friendship he had made with Afonso Dal-
boquerque, and the obedience he had shown to the same,
giving many reasons and excuses for the course he had pur-
sued, and offering in it his own person and his men to help
the King if he is determined to attack the city of Malaca,
with all his household and possessions, relatives and friends,
making very light of this business because of the smallness
of our forces. Afonso Dalboquerque kept this within him-
self without giving account of it to any one, and from that
time forward showed to Utemutaraja much good-will ; and
Utemutaraja, considering this favourable treatment which
he experienced, and vainly imagining that Afonso Dalbo-
querque was not cognisant of the treachery in which he was

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144 COMMENTARIES OF

engaged, began to act with some little effrontery in the
government of the land, and gave opportunity to the Moors
who lived in his district of Dupe to make use of their own
coinage, and prevented ours from being current; and
although Uterautaraja had been present, in his position as a
principal personage, when it was agreed that this coinage'
of money should be made, nevertheless neither he, nor
his sons, grandsons, nor relatives, would be present at
the formal proclamation of the change of currency ; where-
fore it was that Afonso Dalboquerque did not place any
very great reliance on his protestations of friendship, but
began to act very cautiously in his dealings with him, and
appeased the Moors, who complained every day of the rob-
beries practised upon them by Utemutaraja, who was con-
stantly leading his men in little bands about the country,
robbing the people who had returned to settle in the city in
consequence of the safeguard held out to them by Afonso
Dalboquerque. And not content with this, Utemutaraja
had even given orders for seizing all the slaves of the King
and his Mandarins, and of the Merchants, and began to
take possession for himself of certain estates in the interior
country, which had been deserted by the Governors of
Malaca when they had fled with the King, without anyone
being able to compel him to relinquish any of the things
which he had seized.

And because the merchants and people of the city came
again to pour out their complaints against Utemutaraja to
Afonso Dalboquerque, and because also he had intercepted
all the cargoes of rice that had arrived, and would not suffer
a single merchant to purchase any of them, in order to
have them all in his own hands, so that on this account
there was a great scarcity of provisions, Afonso Dalbo-
querque sent word to Utemutaraja, through Ruy de Araújo,
temporising with him, that certain merchants were com-
plaining of the bad government of the land; but it must

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 145

surely be without any reason, for they, were a difficult class
to be made happy, yet he begged earnestly that he would
give orders for an inquiry to be made into the matter. But
Utemutaraja took so little heed of this hint to mend his
ways, that Afonso Dalboquerque again sent word to say
that on an occasion when a certain Naire, 1 who had turned
Christian — a man in the employment of the Meirinho 2 — was
walking in the district of Dupe, he had ordered his arrest ;
and when the Meirinho with very gentle words desired
him to look well to what he was doing, for that man was a
Christian and not subject to his jurisdiction,— but if he had
done anything wrong it ought to be reported to Afonso
Dalboquerque, who would order him to be severely beaten,—
he (Utemutaraja) had given no reply, neither had he
given up the Naire, but from that time forward he began
to construct in Dupe strong stockades surrounded with
ditches.

Ruy de Araújo, who observed these evident signs of
effrontery on the part of Utemutaraja, made his way to
Afonso Dalboquerque, and related to him all these things
that had taken place, little thinking that he was well aware
of them all, and told him that unless that Javanese (Ute-
mutaraja) were once and for ever put to silence, he felt sure
that as soon as the Portuguese sailed away for India he
would be the cause of a great deal of trouble to the fortress,
and to the men who were left behind in it ; and this very
same opinion was given to Afonso Dalboquerque by the
merchants, who begged him very earnestly not to depart
from Malaca without first of all casting Utemutaraja out of
the country, for he was a traitor, and an evil man, who had
always been an opponent of the late king, and had even
endeavoured several times to rise up in open rebellion

1 See vol. i, p. 4.

* Meirinho, an officer whose duty it is to apprehend criminals and
malefactors.

VOL. III. L

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146 COMMENTARIES OF

against him ; and they declared that they dared not stay in
the land if Utemutaraja remained therein ; and they gave
very good reasons for all this, alleging that Utemutaraja
was not only an old man, and of very ancient family, and
one to whom much faith was attached in that country, but
also he had many sons and grandsons, and was very rich,
and had many retainers. And beyond all these arguments
which the merchants laid before Afonso Dalboquerque, he
himself had certain information that the principal reason
why this Javanese practised these doings was because he
could not bear that the.Quilins and Chitims, who were
Hindoos, should be out of his jurisdiction, or have a
governor and a system of judicature set apart for them-
selves, for it was Ninachatu who ruled them, and framed his
government in accordance with their native Hindoo manners
and customs. And another strong motive which influenced
this matter was that Afonso Dalboquerque greatly favoured
the Hindoo merchants, because they were men much em-
ployed in trading, and richer, and possessed of greater
estates than the Moors ; and in their hands lay all the com-
merce and business of Malaca, and they, too, were under
the obligation of causing six hundred families of the richest
inhabitants of Choramandel to come and settle in Malaca ;
and this favour which Afonso Dalboquerque showed to the
Hindoos, and the great trouble he was at to root out the
Moors from Malaca, was the cause of Utemutaraja's enter-
ing into a confederation with King Alaoadim to rise up in
revolt against our people.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUB. 447

CHAPTER XXXIV.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, on account of the corroboration
which he received concerning the treason which Utemutaraja was
planning against him, determined to seize him, and his sod, and his
son-in-law ; and the rest that took place, and what passed with the
wife of Utemutaraja.

The great Afonso Dalboqnerque, being thus aware of the
conspiracy in which Utemutaraja was engaged together with
the King Alaoadim, intending to rise up in revolt against
him, and having information that he had bought up all the
rice in the markets, which formed the staple article of food
for the inhabitants of the city, and fearing that this business
would entail great trouble upon him if he bore with Utemu-
taraja any longer, determined to seize him and his son, son-
in-law, and grandson, 1 and on several occasions caused
them to be summoned, that he might take counsel with
them concerning the government of the land, but they
always made excuses for absenting themselves, and were
unwilling to come at his summons, whereat Afonso Dalbo-
querque began to be more displeased than ever with them ;
nevertheless, he continued to dissemble his real feelings
towards them.

But when the time came for Afonso Dalboquerque to set
sail for India, and he saw he could not bring this affair to
a conclusion except by some open acts of force, veiling his
real intentions he said to Cojeabrahem, 2 a Moor, by nation
a Persian, who was a great friend of Utemutaraja, who was
constantly requesting him to give him the official position

1 u Tinha elle hum filho valente caualleiro, e tinha hum seu genro,
casado com huma filha, de que tinha hum neto valente caualleiro, todos
homens muy poderosos e riqos." — Corrêa, p. 258.

* Coge Abraham, i.e., Master Abraham ; for the first part of the word,
which is a titular designation, see vol. i, p. 227.

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148* COMMENTARIES OF

of Quitoal, 1 that he had determined not to confer the offices
of the city upon any one without the counsel and advice of
the principal inhabitants of it, and therefore they must all
be convened, and if they were agreed then he would give
him the office in their presence.

Cojeabrahem, seeing by this a means for the accomplish-
ment of his aspirations, so managed that he brought them
together and conveyed them to the fortress where Afonso
Dalboquerque was with all the captains ; and when they had
gone in, without any further parley with them, Afonso Dal-
boquerque ordered that their arms should be taken away
from them, and then gave orders to Buy de Araújo to read
to them before the whole assembly certain articles which
he had against Utemutaraja and his son, son-in-law, and
grandson, concerning many things which they had done
against the service of the King D. Manuel, their lord, and
among others the letter which Utemutaraja had written to
King Alaoadim.

Utemutaraja confessed to certain of the articles, but
denied others, and as for the letter, he said it was true
that he had written it, but it was not his intention to revolt
against Afonso Dalboquerque, but rather to get the king
into his own hands, so as to deliver him up to the Portu-
guese ; and as for the rice which they alleged he had bought
up and kept in hand, he had indeed bought it to make
profit by the transaction, for this was the business by which
he made his living, and he had not done this for any other
or for any bad purpose ; but these were matters which the
Hindoos had trumped up against him out of the ill will
they bore him because he would not take part in their
peculations.

* Corrêa gives the signification of this native title by the paraphrase :
— " Que andaua em requerimento com o Gouernador que o fizesse gozil
t guarda do mar"; i.e., governor of the port, and warden of the sea,
p. 259.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 149

When this examination was over, Afonso Dalboquerque
gave orders to put all four of the prisoners into a cellar of the
keep, and to maintain good watch over them, and to throw
down the stockades and fill in the ditches which Utemutaraja
had constructed in his district ; and to Pero Dalpoem, who
held the office of Ouvidor^ order was given forthwith to
take judicial notice of their deeds, and to act in strict letter
of law against them. As soon as the merchants and principal
inhabitants received the news that Afonso Dalboquerque had
captured Utemutaraja and his sons, they came and asked
him to make just restitution of the great quantity of pro-
perty of which that prince had robbed them. Therefore he
gave instructions to the Ouvidor to cause restoration to be
made to them of everything that should prove to have been
obtained by robbery ; and beside many other things which
were thus caused to be restored to these merchants and to
the people of the city, there were five hundred slaves whom
Utemutaraja had seized by force. And when all the forms
of the judicial process had been executed, and when every-
thing was at an end, waiting for the passing of the sentence,
Afonso Dalboquerque gave orders for the summoning of all
the captains, and in their presence told the Ouxndor to read
the indictment of the crimes of the prisoners ; and having
heard them, they adjudged the prisoners to suffer capital
punishment 2 by decollation.

As soon as the sentence had been pronounced, Afonso
Dalboquerque gave orders that there should be set up a lofty
scaffolding in the middle of the square, that the execution
might be witnessed by all the populace. Now when the wife
of Utemutaraja knew that her husband and children were con-
demned to death, she sent to Afonso Dalboquerque a
Javanese named Patequitir, to beg he would have pity on

i Chief magistrate.

1 Julgaram que morressem morte natural; a curious Portuguese phrase,
probably to be accounted for on euphemistic principles.

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150 COMMENTARIES OP

Ler and pardon her husband and her children, and she
would take them away with her and go and live in her own
country (for Bhe was a native of Java), for she was never
happy at their living in Malaca, and on this condition she
would give, towards defraying the expenses of the works at the
fortress, seven Baixares of gold, each one of which contains
four quintals} Afonso Dalboquerque replied that the custom
of the Portuguese was not to sell justice for gold, that for his
part he was very sorry to find them guilty and to have
to give orders for justice to be meted out to them,
but that he would allow that their bodies after death
should be delivered over to them that they might bury them
according to their own rites. When the scaffold was ready
he ordered the Ouvidor to go and execute justice upon the
prisoners, taking with him in his train all the guards, and
a large body of other men armed, because these criminals
were men of considerable importance; and when they were on
the scaffold and the executioner desired to execute the sons
first, Utemutaraja said to him that he should begin upon
him, for he was an old man, and could not bear to see them
come to such a fearful end. The bodies remained where
they were from the morning until the evening, in sight of
all the people of the city, who could not bring themselves to
believe that these men had been executed.

This spectacle of the punishment of these Moors was a
special permission of Divine Providence, for in this very

1 Corrêa 1 » account of this proffered gift involves a curious typographi-
cal error in his text. The passage is as follows : — " £ por ysso dariâo
sete bares d'ouro e meo, que erão trinta quintaes, por cada hum dez, 11
p. 260. " And they would give seven and a half bares of gold, which
was thirty quintals, for each one ten"; a manifest error for /our.

The Quintal is equivalent to four Arrobas, or 68.7428 kilo, French.
Vieyra's description of the Bahar is somewhat confused. He gives three
values, &86 lbs. avoird., 625 lbs. and 6250 lbs. for different Eastern
localities. JBlutcau quotes a passage from Damião de Goes, foi. 60, col,

3, " Que fuz cada Bahar tres quintaes, três arrobas, e desouto arrates

do nosso peso 1 '.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 151

same square, where Afonso Dalboquerque ordered these
men to be decapitated by the sword of the justice of the
King of Portugal, two years ago the King of Malaca had
determined to kill his chief captain, Diogo Lopez de
Sequeira, and all those who accompanied him to that country,
in a banquet which was given to them, had it not been for a
woman of Java, who by night swam off to the ships to warn
one of the mariners who was her friend. 1 The wife of Ute-
mutaraja, after having performed her rites of sepulture upon
those devilish corpses, 2 conferred with Patequitir and gave
him seven or eight miticaeeP of gold, and desired him to
gather together all her slaves, who were very many, and to
take vengeance for her upon the Quilhw* and Ohitinsf who
had been the cause of the death of her husband and her
sons.

When Afonso Dalboquerque knew of this, he came up
with some soldiers and fell upon this band, and put them all
to the sword in the very streets of the city, killing a great
number of them. Patequitir, finding himself worsted, and
seeing that he had no power to carry out what was desired
of him, took the wife of Utemutaraja, and all the property
he could carry off, and struck out into the interior of the
country, and set fire to a large number of country houses of
0hitin8 and Quilins, and carried on this rebellion for ten or
twelve days ; but when he reflected that this enterprise of
his could not possibly come to a good end, he sent to
Afonso Dalboquerque to give him a safeguard, and this was
granted according to his request, but he would not return to
live in Malaca.

This Utemutaraja was by birth a Javanese Hindoo, and
it was many years since he had become a Moor. He was
about eighty or ninety years of age, of the lower class ; he
was poor when he came to Malaca, and he had lived about

1 See vol. ii, pp. 78, 74. a Aquelles corpos de Satanás.

8 See p. 142. * See p. 128. c See vol. ii, p. 130 w.

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152 COMMENTARIES OF

fifty years there: he prospered well with his merchant
trade, and became exceedingly rich ; he was very proud, ex-
cessively tyrannical, restless, rebellious, and so was he
always in the time of King Mahamet ; and he had so much
power and so much authority in Malaca, that had he not
been got rid of he would certainly have caused very great
trouble to us. Por Afonso Dalboquerque very often used
to say (when he observed how quiet the country remained
after the death of Utemutaraja), that if he had carried out a
similar policy in Ormuz, in regard to Cogeatar, 1 that one
also would never have raised up rebellion against him, nor
practised so many impostures upon him.

This son of his, who was put to death with him, was the
one who stood ready with the dagger in his hand to murder
Diogo Lopez de Sequeira ; and he it was, too, whom the
King of Malaca had appointed Captain, after the fall of
Diogo Lopez, to seize the ships of the Portuguese, with a
large body of his own and his father's retainers ; but Our
Lord would not that he should accomplish this crime, but,
on the other hand, willed that he should pay the penalty
which such an undertaking merited.

CHAPTER XXXV.

How Duarte Fernandez, and the Chinese, whom he carried in his com.
pany, reached the city of Udiá, where the King of Sifio lived, and
gave him the message which he carried from the great Afonso Dal-
boquerque ; and of the ambassador whom the King of Sião sent to
him.

When Duarte Fernandez had set sail from Malaca in
company with the two Chinese captains, bearing the
message of the great Afonso Dalboquerque to the King
of Sião, as has already been mentioned, in a few days they

1 See vol. i, p. 108, etc.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 153

stood off on the other tack and reached the mouth of a
large river which leads to the City of Udiá, 1 in which the
King of Siam lived; and when the King heard of the
arrival there of some foreign people he sent thither a
Captain with two hundred launches, to learn what people
they were and whence they came.

As soon as the Captain reached the harbour where the
Chinese had remained, he enquired of Duarte Fernandez
the purpose of his journey, and by whom he had been sent.
Duarte Fernandez replied that he was the messenger of a
great Captain of the King of Portugal, who was established
at Malaca with a large fleet, and that he had been sent
thither by the orders of that Captain to visit the King of
Sião and carry a letter to him. On receiving this intelli-
gence the Siamese Captain sent to the King an account of
the people, who they were, and with what object they had
come, and asking that instructions should be sent how he
desired him to proceed in this matter.

The King, having already had some information of the
arrival of Afonso Dalboquerque at Malaca, was very much
gratified to know that this messenger came from him, and
ordered the Captain to bring the messenger to him im-
mediately. When the King's reply was received the Captain
embarked in the launches with Duarte Fernandez and the
Chinese Captains, and they all proceeded up the river 2 as far
as the City, and when the party disembarked the Captain
with all his men escorted Duarte Fernandez to the Palace,
where the King was waiting for them in a large hall, all
hung round with brocades and upholstered with very rich

1 Udiá, called by Bruzen de la Martiniere Jutkia or Judia, the capital
city of the kingdom of Siam, corrupted from the native name Si-yô-thi-yâ.
Pedro Barretto de Resende, in MS., Sloan, 197, fol. 380, shows on Ber-
thelot's map of 1635, the " Cidade de India, metropolli do Reino de
Siam". Keith Johnston, in his Royal Atlas, places Yuthia or Ayuthia,
a little to the north of Bangkok, 14 deg. 24 min. N., 100 deg. 27 min. £.

2 The river Menam, see p. 71 w.

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154 COMMENTARIES OF

cushions, the King himself being seated on a lofty chair,
habited in the Chinese fashion, and close to him, on the
right and left, all his wives and daughters, seated, clad in
brocades and silken clothes, with a great display of golden
ornaments and jewellery, and lower down on each side
many other women of noble birth, dressed after the same
manner, so that it was a very grand spectacle. The women
of this country are somewhat short of stature, but yet they
are very handsome. And there were also present there all
the principal lords of the country, very richly attired.

After Duarte Fernandez had entered the hall he made his
obeisance to the King after the Hindoo manner, and went
up to him and gave him Afonso Dalboquerque's letter and
the sword, which the King received with many words of
acknowledgment, asking him about the doings at Malaca,
and the King of Portugal, and the state and power which he
possessed. Duarte Fernandez, being a man of considerable
ability, gave a very good account of everything in his replies
to the King's enquiries. And when this interview was over
the Captain was commanded to take him to his own house
and to entertain the Chinese Captains in a very good manner,
and on the following day the King ordered that all the City
should be shown to him in order to do him honour, and also
that he should see a white Elephant which he had, at which
the Chinese became very greatly struck with amazement ;
and indeed had it been a thing which could be purchased,
they would have given a large sum of money for it in order
to carry it to the King of China.

After some days had elapsed the King granted a farewell
audience to Duarte Fernandez, sending in company with
him an Ambassador to Afonso Dalboquerque, with a letter
to the King D. Manuel, and a ring set with a ruby, and a
crown and sword of gold, and they set out from the city of
Udiá and in seven days got as far as the other side of the
Coast of Samatra and reached Taranque, which is a city

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 155

belonging to the King of Sifto, and from that point they
kept along by his towns as far as the shoals of Capacia,
and on their arrival at Malaca they found the walls of the
fortress already with a great part of the battlements and
towers complete, and much artillery set up in them, and all
the city in obedience to Afonso Dalboquerque.

The Chinese Captains, who had all along fancied that he
would be ruined in that enterprise of his against Malaca,
when they beheld the fortress finished and the peaceable
state of the city were very much astonished, and very much
ashamed of the way in which they had behaved towards him
before their voyage. When Afonso Dalboquerque learned
that an Ambassador of the King of Sião had come in
company with Duarte Fernandez, he gave orders that he
should be received by all the Captains, and he treated him
with great honour and entertained him. The Ambassador
delivered to him a letter which he had brought, and another
for the King D. Manuel, with the present. The letter for
Afonso Dalboquerque was the reply to that which had been
sent to the King by Duarte Fernandez, and in it the King
said that he was much pleased with the messenger and with
the declaration of friendship, and offered him his kingdom
and person for the service of the King of Portugal, and
supplies and men and merchandize for his country, as much
as was required, and that for a long time he had desired to
be on friendly terms with him on account of the great
things which he had heard reported of the Portuguese done
against the Moors, and that he hoped he would take
vengeance for him upon that tyrant the King of Malaca,
for as yet he did not know that the city was taken.

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156 COMMENTARIES OF

CHAPTER XXXVI.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched the ambassador of the
King of Sião, and in company with him sent Antonio de Miranda
de Azevedo with instructions how to act, and of the present which
was sent through him.

As soon as the great Afonso Dalboquerque had con-
cluded his interviews with the Ambassador of the King of
Sião, he determined — being just on the point of setting
sail for India — to dispatch him back again, and to send in
company with him Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo, as
Ambassador to the King, and ordered him to make ready
to sail in the junk of the Chinese who were waiting there
for him ; and this was the instruction given to him as to
what he was to say : —

" You shall declare to the King of Sião how the King of
Portugal, my lord, sent me to this port of Malaca to take
notice of the treason which the king and his governors did
to a certain one of his chief captains and to his men, who
had been sent to treat as to terms of friendship, and that
he had killed them in face of a safeguard which had been
granted to them, and thrown into captivity in that country
a great part of the men.

" You shall declare to him that, after I had arrived at
this port, I had sent many times to beg of the king to give
an account of his proceedings, and order the release of the
Portuguese whom he had thrown into captivity, and make
good the property which he had taken ; but he, with his
unmeasured pride, never gave answer to this proposal, nor
desired to be on friendly terms, nor make a treaty of peace
with me, but shewed favour to the Moors of India (who had
their ships there) in opposition to the service of the King
of Portugal.

" You shall declare that when I beheld his determination
to be false I attacked his city and entered into it by force

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUB. 157

of arms, and overcame the king (who escaped with a wound
only) and his people and his elephants ; but, in order that I
should not destroy the city, I re-embarked, and so re-
mained for the space of fifteen days in expectation of his
repentance; and the king, having had experience of the
dashing spirit of the Portuguese cavaliers, had nevertheless
not abandoned the intention of risking all at any price upon
the hazard of war, rather than wishing to have an agree-
ment of peace and friendship arranged between myself and
him.

" Ton shall declare to him that in order to repress this
contumacy which he shewed, I again attacked the city and
overthrew it, killing many people and even some of his
captains ; and I took his elephants and I burnt his palaces,
but I forgave his people and his merchants, so that the city
might not be destroyed nor the trade of the country ; and
that I give the King of Sião hereby this notice of it,
because I know for certain that he will be well pleased at
hearing of the overthrow of this king, for he has always
been at war with him.

" You shall declare unto him that the King of Portugal,
my lord, will be greatly pleased if the ships and people of
Sião trade with Malaca, and that this was the principal
reason why I was glad when it was taken ; and, if he
should have any need of the fleets or armies of Sifto for the
preservation of his estate, I, as his captain general, will
make use of them in everything that he orders me to do."

And with these instructions Afonso Dalboquerque gave
him a present for the king, to be given to him in the name
of the King of Portugal, consisting of some breast-pieces of
crimson velvet; a long corselet with complete suit of arms ;
a helmet with the chin-piece very richly garnished; a
buckler of buff, 1 with its cordings very richly made and set

1 Adarga danta. The Anta, according to Vieyra, is an animal found
in the East Indies, like a little cow, without horns. The hide is much
valued to make buff small- clothes.

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158 COMMENTARIES OF

in a brocaded guige j 1 three cloths of arms made of velvet
and satins of various colours, stamped in patterns and
trimmed with gold tassels. These had belonged to the
King of Malaca, and had adorned the wooden house wherein
the King of Pão, his son-in-law, was to go in procession
through the streets of the city (as I have related already 2 ) ;
and a basin for washing the hands, with bastions ; 3 and two
double-handed vases 4 of the same pattern ; and a small
kettle of fine workmanship ; and two cups with bastions,
all of silver; and a cross-bow, with its furniture; 6 and
four branches of coral, very thick and of fine quality,
because of its great value in that country ; and a piece of
scarlet; and he made a present of some articles to the
King of Si&o's ambassador, whereat he was much pleased.

Antonio de Miranda, as soon as he received his letters of
credence for the King, embarked on board the Chinese junk,
and proceeding on the voyage in a few days reached the city
of Taranque, which belongs to the King of Sião, and there
he parted from the Chinese and made his way through the
country with horses and draught oxen, straight to the city
of Sifto, where he was very graciously received by the King
who was reigning there.

This kingdom of Sifto is very narrow on that side where
the Chinese make their navigation. It possesses some har-
bours and villages, and from thence it is a ten days' journey
to the coast of Tanaçarij, 6 and Taranque, and Savião, and
on the other side of the sea of Samatra he has also many
harbours and villages, and he is lord of a large population.
These are Hindoos, and in the country are many Moorish
merchants from numerous parts of the world. The Chinese
keep up in this country their establishments, for they repose

1 Funda, a sling, strap, or guige, by which the shield is slung over the
shoulder. « See p. 107. » See vol. ii, p. 205.

« Albarradas. 6 Almazem.

• Tenasserim, 12 dcg. 2 min. N., 98 deg. 55 min. £.

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AFONSO DALBOQUBRQUE. 159

great confidence in the people. The King of this land was
always at war with the King of Malaca, and therefore he
was not sorry to see him overcome.

There are many things which I could have written about
this kingdom of Sião, but my purpose is not to write any
more about the countries than that which is necessary for
the understanding of this history.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched the ambassadors of the
Kings of Campar and Java, and ordered the exploration of the
Island of Maluco.

The King of Campar having received intelligence of the
discomfiture of Malaca, and of the state in which the affairs
of that kingdom were, and fearing that because he was his
son-in-law the fury of the Portuguese would be brought
to bear also against his own country, embarked in ten
launches, and came down to the river Muar, which is in the
kingdom of Malaca, a distance of eight leagues from the
city, opposite to the kingdom of Pão, and when he had
arrived at this river he sent a messenger to Afonso Dal-
boquerque with a present of eight packages 1 of lenhonoe* of
very fine quality, and two of a mass which is made of the
blood of the dragon, 8 which serves as a varnish for painted

1 Fardos, bundles or bales. The fardo in India is a definite amount
of forty-two pounds weight Portuguese.

2 Lenhonoe ; perhaps the len-hae, considered by the Rev. Dr. Mason of
Barman to be the Açoras Calamus, the root of which is very fragrant.
See J. F. Watson's Index to the Native and Scientific Names of Indian and
other Eastern Economic Plants, p. 342, fol. London, 1868, Indian
Museum. Cf. lenholoes, chapter xliii.

* Dragrão, a typographical error for dragão. The sangue do dragão is
the resin of a tree known to botanists as Calamus Draco. Bluteau writes
of the Sangue de Drago : — " He huma espécie de goma, que por incisão
dcstilla em licor, e logo em se levantando o sol, se endurece, e se congela

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160 COMMENTARIES OF

articles, and sent word to say to Afonso Dalboquerque that
this was a specimen of the fruit that was gathered in his
country, and that he very greatly desired his friendship, and
to become a vassal and a servant of the King of Portugal,
and that he was not culpable in any way for the doings of
his father-in-law.

Afonso Dalboquerque sent to thank him sincerely for the
present, and for the desire to serve the King of Portugal, his
Lord, which he had shown, and he sent him also certain
things in return for his present, and offered him men and a
fleet whenever he might need them; and when this mes-
senger from the King of Campar had set forth on his return
journey, Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched another, who many
days ago had arrived there from the King of Java, bringing
with him for a present a dozen lances of very great length
with their slings of wood fastened into the iron, and a very
long piece of cloth, whereon was painted a representation of
the manner in which the King goes to battle, with his car-
em humas pequenas lagrimas friáveis, e vermelhas como sangue. O
sangue de Drago com estas qualidades he o melhor dos três, que se ven-
dem nas boticas. Mana de huma arvore do tamanho de pinheyro, que
dà muyto ramo, e lança humas folhas da f eyção de espadas ; os frutos
se parecem com ginjas, e formando huns como cachos, de amarellos se
fazem vermelhos, e de vermelhos azues, e azedinhos ao gosto. Disserão
alguns, que, tirada deste fruto a pelle, apparece a figura de hum drago,
donde lhe veyo o nome ; porém a mais commua opinião tem esta circun-
stancia por fabulosa.

11 A outras duos gomas, que tem alguma semelhança com esta, se dà o
nome de sangue de Drago; huma se tira de humas plantas das Ilhas
Canárias, a qual dà folhas como de pereyra, a outra tem folhas como de

ginjeyra, e dizem que huma e outra se cria na Ilha de S. Lourenço

Disserão outros que o sangue de Drag&o era huma certa espécie de ver-
melhão, muyto fino, e apurado. O que tamhem he falso, porque o verda-
deyro vermelhão he mineral, on artificial, e o sangue de Dragão, que se
usa nos boticas, he licor congelado a modo de resina, que se destilla das
arvores, as quaes... se chamão Dragoens. San grão os moradores da terra
estas arvores, dandolhes golpes na casca, onde acode a humidade que tem,
e alli se coalha, e faz em resina, vermelha, dura, e transparente."

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AFONSO DALBOQUBBQUB. 161

riages, horses, and elephants armed with their wooden
castles, and a figure of the King therein painted, riding in
certain wooden erections placed above the carriages, and
all this very beautifully depicted; and he sent him also
twenty little bells, of which their music consists, and players
who could play upon them with carved sticks, and they har-
monised very well and gave a very pleasant sound ; and he
sent him two very large bells, which they strike in battle,
for they can be heard a long way off; and the King desired
to offer him men and supplies, and all other things that
might be necessary for the war in Malaca. The reason of
this was that the King of Java was "very much opposed to
the King of Malaca, on account of the frequent tyrannies
which were continually practised upon his native subjects
whenever they went thither.

Afonso Dalboquerque dispatched the ambassador, and
with him he sent to the King of Java one of the elephants
which had been captured in Malaca, for in that country
they are held in very great esteem, and a piece of scarlet,
and another of velvet crimson, and granted him free
passage for himself and for the transport of the elephant.
And just at this very juncture there arrived at Malaca
three pangajaoas 1 from the kingdom of Menamcabo, which
is at the point of the island of Çamatra on the other side of
the south, and brought with them a sum of gold, and they
came to seek for cloths of India, for which there is a great
demand in their country. The men of this kingdom are
very well made, and of fair complexion ; they walk about
always well dressed, clad in their silken bajus* and wearing
their crisis with sheaths adorned with gold and precious
stones in their girdles. These are a people of good
manners and truthful character ; they are Hindoos ; they

1 See p. 60 n.

* Baju, a kind of garment worn by the Indian ladies. — Vieyra.
41 Camisa de meyo corpo." — Bluteau.

VOL. III. M

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162 COMMENTARIES OF

have a great veneration for a certain golden head-dress 1
which, as they relate, Alexander [the Great] left there with
them when he conquered that country.

Now that Afonso Dalboquerque had dispatched all these
messengers, he determined to send a party to explore the
islands of Maluco, and all the others of that archipelago, 1
for he had been informed that there were many of them ;
and he made ready three ships, of which he conferred the
chief captaincy upon Antonio Dabreu, of whom I have
already written how he was wounded in the junk with
which he attacked the bridge"" at Mnlaory* tmd he indeed
quite deserved this honour, on account of his dashing spirit
and chivalrous character. And of the other two ships he
gave the captaincy to Francisco Serrão and Sim&o Afonso ;
and for pilots he appointed Luis Botim, and Gonçalo de
Oliveira, and Francisco Rodriguez, a man of youthful age,
who had always had employment in India as a pilot, and
knew very well how to set up a memorial monument 4 if
it were required, and this indeed was the object of Afonso
Dalboquerque in sending him there. And with them he
sent two native pilots ; and as factor João Freire, servant
of the Queen D. Leonor ; and Diogo Borges, servant of the
King D. Manuel, to be the scrivener. And he prepared a
junk laden with various kinds of merchandise, whereof he
gave part to Ninachatu, and to a Hindoo whose name was
Cogequirmani, 6 whose wife and children were settled with

1 Carapuça de ouro. 11

* It is doubtful whether this refers to the group of Moluccas or Spice
Islands, deg. min., 127 deg. 30 min. £., as Borneo lays between
them and the Malay peninsula. Probably the term was employed gene-
rally for the multitudinous groups of small islands lying on the equator
between Asia and Australia in the Pacific. 9 See p. 121.

4 Padrdo, a post or pillar on which was engraved an inscription, set
up in accordance with the custom usually adopted by the discoverers of
new countries.

i.e , Khoja Eirmânl, the " Merchant of Kirman", or Kerman, one of
the provinces of the Persian Empire. Here, as frequently is the case

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AFONSO DALBOQUBEQUE. 163

him in Malaca, and this one went as captain of the junk.
And because there was very little to do in getting the junk
ready he set ont two or three days before our fleet.

And the instructions which Afonso Dalboquerque gave to
Antonio Dabreu were, on no account whatever on that
voyage to take any prizes, and to go on board of no vessel
whatever, nor to consent to any of his men going on shore,
but in all the harbours and at all the islands at which he
might touch to give presents and gifts to the kings and
lords of the country, and for this purpose he ordered that
there should be given out many pieces of scarlet and velvets
of Meca, and many other kinds of merchandise; and,
further, he gave orders that the captain should not inter-
fere with a single ship of Malaca or of the other parts
(whether they belonged to the Moors or to the Hindoos)
which he might meet with in these Clove islands 1 or Apple
islands 8 taking in cargo, but rather shew them favour and
give them as much assistance as he possibly could ; and, in
the same way that such ships as these negotiated for their
cargo, so also in like manner was he to act for his cargo,
observing all the customs of the respective countries. But
whatever might happen not one of the captains was to go
on land, except only the factor and scrivener with two or
three to accompany them.

These ships carried a hundred and twenty Portuguese
and twenty captive slaves to work at the pumps ; and they
went very well supplied with provisions and artillery, and
had on board plenty of tow and pitch, and caulkers, in order
that if necessity should arise they might go and overhaul
their ships at the cape of a large island (which lies at a
distance of four days' sail from the clove islands), which is

throughout the Commentaries, the Portuguese interpreter appears to mis-
take the title or designation of the individual for his proper name.

1 Em essas Ilhas do Cravo. The Molucca Islands are known even
now under the name of the Spice Islands. * Oudas Maçons.

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164 COMMENTARIES OF

called Amboino, 1 for we have already a knowledge of the
rise and fall of the tide there. And when they were all
quite prepared they set out in the month of November.

And as soon as Antonio de Abreu had set sail, Afonso Dal-
boquerque gave orders to make ready a very large new junk,
of which he gave part to Ninachatu and the other merchants
of Malaca, and he ordered that it should be laden with much
merchandise of Cambaya, which had been captured on the
voyage from India to Malaca, and that the vessels should go
to Pace 8 to take in a cargo of pepper to be stored up in the
fortress, in case of the Chinese, or Gores (whose arrival
he was expecting) coming in search for a cargo. And all the
other merchants and chitins of Malaca began to prosecute
their trading voyages, and to arrange their commercial
undertakings in such a manner that in a very short space of
time the brisk trade which was carried on in Malaca began
to be very celebrated. And at the report of the good treat-
ment which the great Afonso Dalboquerque had ordered to
be shown to all the shipping which touched Malaca with
merchandise, they began to make their voyages thither from
all parts, and every one of them found something in the way
of a cargo to carry back to their own country.

1 Amboino; Amboina Island, 3 deg. 45 min. 8., 128 deg. 15 min. E.;
a little to the south of the island of Ceram. Amboina is a high island,
eleven leagues in extent N.E. and S.W., the largest of those called the
Glove Islands. The great bay extends about seven leagues into the island,
separating it nearly into two parts. Amboina Bay is formed at the
entrance by two high points, that of Allang on the west side, and
Noessauiva Point to the eastward ; they are steep-to ; situated in lat.
8 deg. 47 min. S., long. 128 deg. 6 min. E., and bear nearly E. and W.
of each other, distant six miles. About three cables' lengths from
Noessaniva Point, in a S.S.E. direction, there is a narrow bank of sand,
stretching E. and W., having soundings of fifteen to twenty fathoms on
it, upon which a ship might anchor when calm. The tides in the bay
are very irregular, being governed chiefly by the winds, and rise about
six or seven feet — Horsburgh, India Directory, vol. ii, p. 714. Eighth
Edition. London, 1864. * Pace; see p. 59 n.

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AF0N80 DALBOQUERQUE. 165

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Of the Council which the great Alfonso Dalboquerque held with the
Captains respecting the order in which he should leave the manage-
ment of affairs at Malaca, and some ordinances which he made for
the government of the country before his departure for India.

When the great Afonso Dalboquerque had concluded his
dispatch of all the matters which I have related, he ordered
that a meeting of all the captains, Fidalgoes, and servants
of the King throughout the fleet should be convened, and
then he told them that the fortress of Malaca was now com-
pleted in the way in which they beheld it, with plenty of artil-
lery within it, capable of defending itself successfully against
all the powers of the Kings of these parts who could come
against it : that the monsoon favourable for a voyage to India
was now blowing, and that it was very necessary for them to
set sail, for the condition of affairs at Goa was so unsettled, that
he could not tell in what state they were ; therefore he de-
sired them earnestly to declare to him the policy which he
ought to carry out concerning the government of Malaca,
and what number of men, and how much artillery he ought
to leave in the fortress, and how many vessels, and whether
he should appoint a captain of the sea or not, or whether one
alone would be sufficient on sea and on land, and whether or
not he should remove certain principal Moors of the city of
whom there was some suspicion.

In the Council there arose different opinions, and at the
end of all it was arranged that there should be a Captain
in the Fortress and a Captain of the Fleet in the Sea, and
• that the Captain of the Sea should be under the orders of
the Captain of the Fortress (this was so arranged to avoid the
shameful deeds done in India, which had then already taken
place, but Afonso Dalboquerque always punished them with
great rigour as long as he was Governor of that country),

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166 COMMENTARIES OF

#■

and that he should take an oath of homage to the Captain
of the Fortress to obey him in all things, and all the
Captains do so, as it were to the proper person of his Lord-
ship; and if it should happen that God should dispose
of the Captain of the Fortress, then the Captain of the Sea
should succeed to be the Captain of it, until provision could
be made.

As soon as this had been agreed to by all, Afonso Dalbo-
querque appointed Buy «fie Brito Patalim, Captain of the
Fortress, and Fernão Perez Dandrade, Chief Captain of the
Sea, and as Captains of the vessels which were to remain
under his orders, Lopo de Azevedo, who was t<T be Vice-
Captain, Christov&o Graces, Aires Pereira, Antonio de
Azevedo, Pêro de Faria, Christovâo Mascarenhas, Vasco
Fernandez Coutinho, and João Lopez Dal vim. And
Antonio de Abreu also had orders to remain there with his
Captains, whenever he returned from Maluco. And he
appointed Buy de Araújo — owing to the great obligation
which he was under to him — Factor and Chief Alcaide and
Overseer of the Fortress ; and Francisco de Azevedo and
Pêro Salgado, Scriveners of the Fortress ; and João Jorge,
Beceiver (.4 Zmoa?ari/fe). of the Supplies, and Jacome Fernandez
his Scrivener; and Francisco Cardoso, Almoxarife of the
Armoury, and Bras Afonso his Scrivener ; and as Manager
for the Defunct and of the Hospital, Christov&o Dalmeida,
and Diogo Camacho for his Scrivener, and Bastião Gajlego,
Meirinho of the Fortress. And he also appointed Governors
of the land (not, however, beyond the superior jurisdiction
of the Captain of the Fortress), of the Hindoos, Ninachatu;
and of the Moors a Caciz 1 of his ; and of the Javanese of
the district of Dupe, Eegunecerage, a Moor; and of the
other part of the city, Tufto Calascar, a Javanese by birth 5
and he appointed Buy de Araújo to be decider of their
disputes and differences, and whenever the course of justice
1 Caciz, see p. 69.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 167

required the action of a higher court, the Captain of the
Fortress was paramount over all.

This having been thus arranged, when the merchants of
the country received information that Afonso Dalboquerque
was firmly resolved to set sail for India, they made their
way to him, and one among them, in the name of them all,
declared to him that they had learned how his Lordship
desired to set sail and leave them, for they were astonished
beyond measure that he should leave an undertaking so
important and so rich as was the City of Malaca and go
away, for the well-being of the city without him at its head
could not be maintained. And since he had in his hands'
the government of the largest city there was in the world,
he ought not to leave it to destruction in favour of any
other undertaking, but if he was going to do so from want
of money, they, for their part, would give him as much
gold, silver, and merchandize as he had need of, yea, and
they would spend all the rest of their property in the service
of the King of Portugal, and in his service, and therefore
they begged him earnestly that he would not quit the city
until its affairs had become more settled.

Afonso Dalboquerque thanked them very much for their
offers, giving them certain reasons why it was necessary
that he should return to India, but he would promise that
he would quickly return to visit them, and for the security
and defence of the city he would leave the fortress provided
with plenty of artillery, and many Portuguese Cavaliers to
defend it against any power in the world; and for the
security of the sea and for protection of their merchant
trade, a Fleet with many Fidalgoes and Cavaliers. The
merchants replied that when he was in Malaca his name
alone was sufficient for its defence and maintenance for a
hundred years, and therefore they begged he would not
leave them, and so they went on enlarging on their subject
with good words and praises of his character.

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168 COMMENTARIES OF

Again, Afonso Dalboquerque thanked them for the con-
fidence which they reposed in him, and told them that for
his own part he would be very glad to remain there to
perform what they desired of him, but that he was com-
pelled to go to India, because the fortress of Goa had yet to
be completed, and he did not know how affairs had gone
since his departure.

As soon as this audience which he held with the mer-
chants was over, being now quite ready for his departure,
he was detained yet another day; for the King of Pace,
whom he had captured on the voyage from India (as I have
already related 1 ), and kept in his own house, treating him
with all the courtesy and ceremony which was due to his
rank, had secretly disappeared for two days, and no one
knew whither he had gone.

Afonso Dalboquerque, after using all diligence to get him
into his hands again, and perceiving that it was an useless
search, took leave of the captains and all those who were to
remain behind, and proceeded to embark in the ship Flor
de la Mar, 3 and Pero Dalpoem, auditor of India, in the ship
Trindade; and Jorge Nunez de Lião in the ship Enzo-
bregas; and Simão Martinz in a large junk which was
going to sail laden with many kinds of merchandise which
had been taken at the sacking of the city. And Simão
Martinz took with him in the junk thirteen Portuguese
and fifty men of Malabar from Cochim to form the guard ;
and sixty Javanese carpenters of the dockyard, very handy
workmen, whom Afonso Dalboquerque carried with their
wives and children to serve the King of Portugal at Cochim
in repairing the ships, because they were very much needed
in India.

The Governor of Pace, who had risen up in rebellion

» See p. 64.

» " Partio o Governador de Malaca em primeyro de Dezembro d'este
anno [1511]. — Corrêa, he, p. 258.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 169

against the king (as has been already related), hearing that
Malaca had been taken by the Portuguese, full of fear of
Afonso Dalboquerque, submitted himself to be a vassal of
the King of Portugal ; and Afonso Dalboquerque received
him, because the rightful king would not accept his offers,
and from that time forward the governor was always at the
service and under the orders of Afonso Dalboquerque.

CHAPTER XXXTX.

Oration which Camillo Portio made to the Pope Leo the Tenth in praise
of the capture of Malaca ; and of the victories gained by the Portu-
guese in their conquest of India.

This kingdom having now been taken, and a fortress
built in the city of Malaca, the great Afonso Dalboquerque
immediately apprised the King D. Manuel of the state in
which its affairs were placed ; and the king, in order to
render them of greater importance (because this Golden
Chersonese 1 is greatly celebrated by all authors both ancient
and modern), wrote letters 2 to inform the Pope Leo the

■ See p. 71.

* u In hujus anni [1513] exitu Rex Emmanuel tres legatos ad Leonem
decimum Pontificem Maximum, cum muneribus regia magnificentia
dignis, instituit. Princeps legationis Tristanus Cugna fuit. Collegse duo
jurisconsulti magute apud Lusitanos auctoritatis extitere. Unus Jacobus
Paciecus, alter Joannes Faria nominabatur. Per illos Pontifici sacras
vestes ex auro, cum multis gemmis opere excellenti perfectis dono misit.
Vasa preterea ex auro, atque monilia maximi ponderis et pretii vestibus
adjecit. Opus erat ejusmodi, ut cum materia nihil pretiosius excogitari
posset, artificium tamen ipsam materiam multis partibus superaret.
. " Misit praterea elephantum Indicum mira magnitudinis, quern non
solum Roma, ubi homines, post inclinatum Roman» majestatis ampli-
tudinem, illnd animal nuuquam oculis aspexerant, sed quacumque
gradum inferebat, nemo circumfluentem undique turbam, admiratione
obstupefactam, submovere poterat. Panthera etiam venatica missa fuit,
quod munus hand scio, an olim Rom» JEdiles, cúm ludos magnificentis-
simos apparabant, et prater alias immanes beluas, pantheras etiam in

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170 COMMENTARIES OF

Tenth. And when he had been notified by Jo&o de Faria,
the Portuguese Ambassador who was then at Rome, of the
great victories of the Portuguese which they had gained in
those parts of the world by the assiduity, valour, and spirit
of this great Afonso Dalboquerque, he ordered that a solemn
Procession 1 should be made in which he himself took part ;

publicis spectaculis exhibebant, prastare potuerint. Ea namque raansue-
facta, non in circo cum bestiariis, sed in sylyis cum apris atque cervis
prolium committebat, et principibus qui venationibus oblectantur, pluri-
mum yoluptatis afferebat. Ea insidebat equi Persici tergo, integumentia
auratis eleganter instrati. Equum regebat Persa venator eximius, qui
ad id munus obeundum ab Armuzii rege cum equo et Panthera missus
fuerat.

44 Tristanus Cugna cum esset vir et nobilitate, et auctoritate, et existi-
matione non vulgari proditus, turn propriis sumptibus earn legationem
exornandam susceperat. Ducebat autem secum tree filios et cognatorum
copiam, amplamque familiam quibus stipatus non abjecti Principia spe-
ciem prse se f erebat. Legationis scriba, Nicolaus Faria, qui equis Regiis
curandis proerat, agebat equum pulcherrimum, ephippiis aureis, et pha-
lerifl aureis, emblematis et gemmis maximi pretii distinctis instratum et
ornatum, qui etiam Pontifici donandus erat." — Hieron. Osorii de Rebus
Emmanuelis Regis. Col Agr., 1574, fol. 2976. Ciaconius, in his Vitse
Pontificum (torn iii, a.d. 1513, cols. 328-9), repeats this with an interest-
ing anecdote of the sagacity of the elephant mentioned in the foregoing
extracts.

1 "Such a concurrence of great and prosperous events induced the
Pope to direct the celebration of a public thanksgiving in Rome, which
was accordingly observed with extraordinary pomp and splendid proces-
sions to the churches of S. Maria del Popolo and S. Agostino ; in which
the pontiff appeared in person, and by the propriety and decorum which
always distinguished him on public occasions, gave additional dignity to
the ceremony. At the same time he ordered Camillo Portio to pronounce,
in the pontifical chapel, a Latin oration in praise of the character and
actions of the King of Portugal, who had communicated to him his
success, and testified his dutiful obedience to the Roman Court, and bis
personal attachment to the supreme pontiff.

41 This mutual interchange of civility and respect between the King of
Portugal and the pontiff was, however, rendered much more conspicuous
by a splendid embassy from the Portuguese monarch, which soon after-
wards arrived at Rome, to the great delight and astonishment of the in-
habitants. The chief ambassador on this occasion was the celebrated
Tristano Cugna, who had himself held a principal command in the ex-

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 171

and, on returning to the Sacred Palace, Camillo Portio, 1
in the presence of every one, made him the following

pedition to the East, and had acquired great honour by his conduct and
courage in its prosecution. He was accompanied by Jacopo Pacheco and
Giovanni Faria, professors of the law, of great eminence and authority.
Three sons of Cugna, with many others of his relatives and friends,
accompanied the procession, which was met at the gates of the city by a
select body of cardinals and prelates, who conducted the strangers to the
palaces appointed for their residence. But the respectability of the
envoys was of less importance in the eyes of the populace than the sin-
gular and magnificent presents for the Pope by which they were accom-
panied. Among these were an elephant of extraordinary size, two
leopards, a panther, and other uncommon animals. Several Persian
horses, richly caparisoned, appeared also in the train, mounted by
natives of the same country dressed in their proper habits. To these
was added a profusion of articles of inestimable value ; pontifical vest-

1 Camillo Portio, Porcio, Portius, or Porcarius, must not be con-
founded with another personage of the same name, who flourished later
in the sixteenth century. He was a Roman of noble birth, a canon of
St. Peter's, Rome, and appointed by Pope Leo X, on the 4th March
1517, Bishop of Teramo (Theramum or Aprutium), the episcopal city of
the Abruzzi. He is celebrated as a poet and orator. (See Tiraboschi,
Storia delia Letteratura Italiana. Modena, 1792, 4to, torn, vii, pt. S,
p. 1016. — Nuova Biblioteca Populate ; Opere di C. Porzio, P. Giordani
Torino, 1862, 8vo, p. 13.— Ughelli, Italia Sacra, vol. i, p. 871, " Vir
varia literatura clarus". — Richard et Giraud, Bibliothèque Sacrêe, vol.
xxiv, p. 427.) According to Giordani, Camillo Porcio died in 1521.
Ughelli and Richard place his death in 1522. The following note is of
interest : —

" Camillus Portius, ut meos quoque cives, in scenam hanc inducam,
quant» fuerit celebritatis, ignorat nemo, sive ille Romanatn cathedram
magno omnium stupore, et admirations decoraret, sive pro rostris decla-
marei, ut nihil ejus dictione suavius, nihil jucundius, nihil expolitius,
haberetur. Is tamen simulac ab Leone Decimo Pontífice Maximo
Aprutin» est Ecclesi» profectus, acerbissma diuturni cujusdam morbi,
nulli medicorum cogniti, correptus inclementift, postquam miserabili
cruciatu menses plurimos decubuit afflictatus, morbi demum ejus trucu-
lentiâ, et totius corporis doloribus oppressus, virente adhuc setate ani-
mam egit, incredibili apud omnes sui relicto desiderio." — Joannis Pierii
Valeriani BeUunensis de Literatorum Infelicitate Libri Duo. Amstel.,
1647, p. 15.

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172 COMMENTARIES OF

Oration in October of the year one thousand five hundred
and thirteen : —

" If ever at any time, Most Blessed Father, the Christian
people had reason to give thanks to the Lord, and magnify
his strength and power for an undertaking begun with
bravery and daring, and brought to a fortunate end, this
year stands forth on this account as the most brilliant

mente, adorned with gold and jewels, vases, and other implements for
the celebration of sacred rites, and a covering for the altar, of the most
exquisite workmanship. A herald, bearing the arms of the Portuguese
sovereign, led the procession. On their arrival at the pontifical palace,
where the Pope stood at the windows to see them pass, the elephant
stopped, and, kneeling before his Holiness, bowed himself thrice to the
ground. A large vessel was here provided and filled with water, which
the elephant drew up into his trunk and showered down again on the
adjacent multitude, dispersing no small portion of it among the more
polite spectators at the windows, to the great entertainment of the
Pontiff.

4 'Six days afterwards the ambassadors were admitted to a public
audience, on which occasion the procession was repeated. The Pope,
surrounded by the cardinals and prelates of the church, and attended by
the ambassadors of foreign states and all the officers of his court, was
addressed in a Latin oration by Pacheco, at the conclusion of which
Leo replied to him in the same language, highly commending the king
for his devotion to the Holy See. Of this opportunity the Pontiff also
availed himself, to recommend the maintenance of peace among the
states of Europe and the union of their arms against the Turks, express-
ing himself with such promptitude, seriousness, and elegance, as to ob-
tain the unanimous admiration of the auditors. On the following day
the presents from the king were brought into the conservatory of the
gardens, adjoining the pontifical palace, where, on the introduction of
animals proper for that purpose, the wild beasts displayed their agility
in taking, and their ferocity in devouring, their prey: a spectacle which
humanity would have spared, but which was probably highly gratifying
to the Pontiff, who was devoted to the pleasures of the chase. The
Portuguese monarch had intended to have surprised the Roman people
with the sight of another and yet rarer animal, which had not been
seen in Rome for many ages ; but the rhinoceros, which he had brought
from the East with this view, unfortunately perished in the attempt to
get him on board the vessel prepared to transport him to Italy." —
William Roscoe's Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth. London, 1846,
vol. i, pp. 362, 363.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUR. 173

example which has as yet occurred, wherein our Lord God,
by reason of his profound pity for his people, has deemed
it right to increase their pleasure with fresh joy, and their
prosperity with new and universal occasions of rejoicing.
For in addition to His elevation of your holiness this year
to the majesty of the pontifical throne, more for the universal
profit of Christendom than for any particular benefit to your
own self, He yet further made yonr holiness the sole refuge
and safeguard in matters almost hopelessly ruined, and at a
time when the whole world is occupied in the prosecution of
wars, in order that with greater rejoicings his new choice
might be inaugurated. At this very juncture it was that
He gave to the most puissant and very fortunate and in-
vincible King D. Manuel of Portugal so many and such
great victories and triumphs over his enemies, that one
may easily believe that the Lord is fighting on our side ;
and indeed that in this last brilliant enterprise, which was
fought out victoriously in His name, He has given us a sign
that from this day forward we should have confidence in
Him to confer upon us signal victories, if we will only make
up our determination to use that prestige which belongs
naturally to us, and which is so universally admitted and
dreaded among barbarian nations.

" Is it possible that there may haply be some one who is
capable of deeming as works performed by the hands of
men those deeds which have lately been accomplished by
the Portuguese in India, under the captainship of the valiant
Afonso Dalboquerque ? So many cities of unmeasured
wealth and immense strength entered by force of arms?
so many various nations conquered ? so many tribes over-
come in battle ? and this, too, with a very disproportionate
number of soldiers, who were always able to come victoriously
oat of every enterprise to which they had devoted them-
selves. Yea, and more than this, they compelled many
kings to become tributaries, after having been reduced to

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174 COMMENTARIES OF

the state of subjects by the valour of the arms of Portugal :
and even those who were not reached by the perils of the
war, in order to secure their immunity from him, either came
in person or sent their ambassadors with great earnestness
to sue for peace and alliance. And for this reason the noble
nature of these victories is greater and more excellent,
because they are justly celebrated, not for the slaughter and
destruction which was so frequently dealt out to the enemy,
but for the notable Portuguese spirit, whereby they were
gained ; and it was to this spirit that God thus showed His
favour ; that the victories of the present age should put
those of the past ages out of remembrance in such a manner
that the spoils of the one should exceed the spoils of the other,
and yet with these victories there should be added so many
kings conquered, and all the other potentates who were
unwilling to measure their strength against the intrepidity
of the Portuguese arms, compelled to enter into an alliance.

" Wherefore, Most Blessed Father, your holiness proceeds
with great prudence and Christian zeal, like all the rest in
this respect, when for a victory of so much importance as
this is (and I know not if any one could wish for a greater
one), which at such a happy season our Lord has been
pleased to grant to the most Christian King D. Manuel,
you order solemn processions to take place, and accompany
them in your own person, in order that due thanks may be
given to the Lord, and to all the saints for such a great mark
of His mercy as this is.

" For this is not a victory which has been gained over a
warlike tribe, or over a fortified and obstinately defended
city, but over that great and celebrated land of India,
wherein, after the subjecting by Portuguese arms of the ex-
ceedingly rich kingdoms of Goa and Ormuz, and making
them tributary, in such a manner that from the hands of
the valiant Captain Afonso Dalboquerque, in the name of
the King of Portugal, his lord, these kingdoms received the

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 175

persons who were appointed to govern them, now, as a result
of these great victories by sea as well as by land, there lies
overthrown that most fertile and rich kingdom of Malaca,
called by the ancients, on account of its enormous wealth,
Oolden, 1 for they desired by this appellation (given never
to any other land) to signify the great extent of its immense
sources of wealth ; and not only in the conquest of these
kingdoms is our mind occupied with the greatness of them,
but (and this is of no small importance in these present times
in which we live) we have to bear m mind that as for the
barbarians whom before this event the report of our prowess
had not reached, now, I say, the peril of these kingdoms
terrifies those barbarians to whose lands we have opened
the roads, and of whom up to the present time we have had
no knowledge whatever.

" Thus, for example, there is thrown open to us by the
conquest of the kingdom of Ormuz the road whereby the
Holy House of Jerusalem (the country in which our Saviour
was born) can again be recovered and rescued from the
hands of those infidels who tyrannically and unrighteously
possess it, for into their hearts we have instilled a dread
which makes them fear lest they be compelled to share in
the peril which has befallen their comrades. And in all
these matters I am at a loss to decide to which of two facts
I ought to give the greater praise, to the zeal and good
fortune of the most puissant King D. Manuel, who with so
much trouble and expenditure of treasure has desired to
extend the name of Christ to the regions so far distant, and
"to nations foreign to our intercourse, with the intent that
where the law of Christ had never before been in force there
might he plant the flag of His Holy Cross; or to the spirit,
understanding, and bravery of Portuguese minds, which
with an effort of daring never before witnessed, and with a
thoroughly determined eagerness to augment the Christian

1 See p. 71.

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176 COMMENTARIES OF

religion, have passed over into climes so different from their
native land, and there have been compelled to do battle,
not only with cruel and inhuman enemies, but also with
hunger itself, thirst, cold, and heat insufferable : and yet
with all this to despise every one of the troubles that could
possibly supervene, in order to accomplish the obligations
which, at the orders of their king, they had cheerfully under-
taken to perform.

" And in these enterprises those who will take the trouble
to look into the matter may easily perceive the extensive
nature of the Lord's mercies, when they bear in mind the
8mallness of the heroic bandj which gained possession of
the whole of India. For although there were not so many
as three thousand Portuguese souls in the whole of the
fleet, they overcame so many kingdoms of that country and
took them by force of arms ; and so many kings, who were
so terrified at the fame of the Portuguese, that they came
in humble guise to beg for peace, while those who were un-
willing to accept the terms of peace had to receive by force
the laws imposed upon them by the hands of their con-
querors : yea, and some among them, whom it pleased the
Lord to enlighten, received baptism and embraced the
Christian faith, in such a way that, even in climes so remote
as these are, Christians were found with Christians : and as
the ultimate result of these victories, gained by means of
the same limited number of men, and even fewer still, — for
they were obliged to detach some of the number to form
the garrisons of the kingdoms that had been captured — we
behold Malaca taken, her King conquered, and put to flight
with a small remnant of his army that could barely manage
to follow him, the greater part of it having met their death
by the sword ; and thus is this city of such noble fame, the
capital of such a rich kingdom, in the power of Christians.
This, Most Blessed Father, is that Golden Chersonese 1

» See p. 71.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 177

which lies at the other end of that great gulf wherein the
River Granges discharges her waters into the sea, so famous
for her immense wealth, that on account of the very many
kinds and very great worth of her merchandize, which is
imported thither from different countries, as well as on
account of the no less rich materials which are exported
therefrom, she stands in estimation of being the noblest
place of the whole of India ; and this is but reasonable, for
there is not a single thing of those % which are desirable in
this life, whereof she does not contain a very great abund-
ance.

" There reigned in Malaca a King, who was, as to his faith,
a Moor, as to treasures, rich and powerful, and possessed of a
navy, and a very bitter enemy of the Christian name, espe-
cially of the Portuguese, for about two years previously he
had treacherously sought the death of a noble Portuguese
Captain who had arrived at this port, and the celebrated Cap-
tain Afonso Daiboquerque — (a name deserving of all praise
for his illustrious deeds) — who at that time, in the name of
the most puissant King D. Manuel, governed India, having
pacified and established in security the other kingdoms and
their fortresses of which in that country on this side of the
Ganges, or as the Portuguese call it ' inside the cape of
Comorim J , he had gained possession, made up his mind to
avenge the treason which the King of Malaca had practised
towards the Portuguese, and by way of satisfaction for this
deed to deprive him of his kingdom ; and thus having
arrived in good season at Malaca, he put himself in array
to attack the city, not only by land but also by sea.

" The King of the country, who had never allowed his
thoughts to be disturbed by the idea of such an event, per-
ceiving himself not to be so well prepared as he wished to
be for defending himself, thought it right to resort to arti-
fice, and sent a message of peaceful import to Afonso Dai-
boquerque, the spirited avenger of the treason which had

VOL. III. n

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178 COMMENTARIES OF

been shewn to the Portuguese, and began with dilatory
proceedings to lengthen out the time for the settlement of
the measures for peace, for which he was pretending to
treat, and to temporise with him while, at the same time, he
continued to fortify himself; but these measures of precau-
tion did not escape the notice of the Portuguese, who put
themselves in position for attacking the city ; and man-
ning their small craft, with breasts inflamed with a spirited
valour, swooped down upon the coast ; and bringing into
action the artillery they carried with them, began to dis-
perse the Moors so that they might effect an entrance into
the city with less danger to themselves.

" The King of Malaca, finding himself thrown into this
difficulty, and that he was now driven into a position in
which he was compelled to defend himself by force of arms,
and that now artifices were no longer of any avail, sets in
order his defence with his men behind their stockades,
while he himself mounted upon an elephant keeps on going
up and down among them urging them on, and calling
upon them that they must not think of failing their country
in its present need, and in the supreme necessity which
had fallen upon it. And now the Portuguese, with a spirit
overjoyed and animated, had reached the wall, and the guns
along the shore were pouring forth their fire, when the in-
habitants of the city began to grow alarmed, their heart
failed them, and deserting their stockades, which they had
maintained for a short time only, commenced their flight ;
the Portuguese pursuing them with victorious exultation,
and following closely pell-mell in the pursuit after the
routed enemy, got into the city, and reached the very heart
of it, where, upon a bridge which stood over a river along
which the shipping enters, running through the midst of
the city, the King had made his last stand, and posted the
main force of his army, and strengthening the defences of
the stockades here more and more, he rallied in it those

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AF0N8O DALBOQUERQUE. 179

who were in flight ; for as the river could not be forded by
the Portuguese, he fortified himself on the bridge.

" Here it was that the contest grew sharper, nevertheless
the Portuguese, favoured with the hope of victory (the
enemy being somewhat dashed with dread of the Portu-
guese arms) fought so fiercely with the infidels, that taking
no precautions against their arms, and caring nought for
their elephants with the castles full of archers, and despis-
ing the difficulty of the ford, with their swords carved out
an open way through the midst of the enemy, some of
whom out of sheer despair threw themselves upon the
weapons of the Portuguese, while others cast themselves
into the river to gain safety ; finally, after the space of a
few hours, all were in full flight, and the King, wounded as
he was, along with them.

" The city was then entered and pillaged, a large number
of the enemy put to death. In it was found an immense
quantity of gold and silver, and they found also very many
stores and munitions of war, among which there were two
thousand pieces of artillery. Among the spoils there were
taken seven elephants, caparisoned for battle, with their
castles and their harness woven with gold and very richly
garnished; so that not only the human beings, but even
the brute beasts, of that kingdom were put under obedience
to the Portuguese empire.

"0 good God, O mighty Lord, Thine is the power, 1
Thine the might; 8 Thy right hand hath conferred the
valour ; Thy right hand exalted us : for how could so
strongly fortified a city as this have been entered, and

1 u Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the majesty." — 1 Chron. xxix, 11 ; cf. also 1 Chron.
xxix, 12 ; Matth. vi, 13.

* ik Rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the heathen ? and in
thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to with-
stand thee?"— 2 Chron. xx, 6.

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180 COMMENTARIES OF

so powerful a King be cast oat from it, if Thou hadst
not given us Thy help and Thy favour. Not unto us, Lord,
not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory. Thou hast
broken the strength 1 of the enemy. Thou hast made the
races subject unto us, and hast put them under our feet. 3
Thou didst send forth thine arrows, 8 and overcamedst them,
with Thy lightnings Thou didst scatter them, Thou wert
the Captain, 4 Thou the Counsellor, 6 Thou didst strike fear
into our enemies, Thou madest them flee away. Not for our
sakes, Lord, not for our sakes, but for the glory of Thy name. 1

" But wherefore do I thus dwell so much upon the capture
of Malaca, for what was done with the ruins of the city
after it was taken is no less worthy of narration. Of it and of
its mosques there was immediately constructed a fortress,
strong enough to act as a check upon that turbulent people,
and Governors were appointed over them every year, under
whose government they might live, and laws whereby they
might be upheld, in the dispensation of justice, and after
this treaties of peace were concluded with many kings of
countries adjacent to it, as, for example, the Kings of Pegu,
Samatra, Pedir, Pace, the Javanese, and lastly, even the
Chinese of the far distant East, so celebrated on account of
their merchant wares.

" And in order that there should not be wanting to the
Portuguese an occasion of consolidating their forces, and
by means of them extending that empire which had been
by their employment acquired, the illustrious Afonso Dalbo-

1 " I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen." —
Hag. ii, 22.

1 " He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our
feet."— Ps. xlvii, 3.

9 " His arrow shall go forth as the lightning." — Zach. ix, 14. " Cast
forth lightning, and scatter them ; shoot out thine arrows, and destroy
them."— Ps. cxliv, 6.

* " God himself is with us for our captain." — 2 Chron. xiii, 2.

9 " Who hath been his counsellor."— Rom. xi, 34.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 181

querque, having sailed away from Malaca/ returned to Goa ;
and how shall I describe the victory which he gained ?
Por it does not appear to be so much a victory as a Divine
dispensation which would have affairs turn out thus ; for
this illustrious captain, having gained possession of the island
and kingdom of Goa by force of arms upon two occasions,
leaving it, at the time of his setting out, in the most fortified
condition that he could, while he prosecuted his voyage to
Malaca, and visited the remaining fortresses of India. The
Hidalcâo, who had been lord of this city, seeing that Afonso
Dalboquerque was no longer at hand to defend it, came
down and besieged it with a great force of soldiers on foot
and horse, and built a fortress close to an arm of the sea,
which runs up into the land and surrounds the island ; and
so causing his men to pass over to the island, he instructed
them with constant skirmishes and surprises to tire out
the Portuguese who were left in the fortress, and these,
besieged as they were by so powerful an enemy, found
themselves in great straits and necessity. But in accord-
ance with our Lord's will, at the very time while they were
in this difficulty, the fleet, which was returning from
Malaca with the honour of such a great victory, came into
sight; and at its coming so great was the fear of the
enemies, that without waiting for the Portuguese forces to
disembark, they raised the siege and hastened away with
as much haste as they had first shown at their coming,

" We read concerning that great Alexander, Prince of
Macedon, that when he arrived at the country of India, and
had assaulted a fortified city well defended by its inhabit-
ants, he held it to be of such great importance, and it ap-
peared to be so successful a matter to have captured the
place, that his soldiers did not fail to declare that he was

1 From this paragraph to the end of the oration, the orator deals with
events connected with Portuguese rule in India, which the Commentaries
are about to describe in the succeeding chapters of the volume.

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182 COMMENTARIES OF

more valiant than Hercules. If this be so, what triumphs,
what sovereign honour is due to the King D. Manuel, who
has subjects by whose hands and might he has not only
conquered by force of arms a city of India, but with a con-
tinued round of his victories kept on going about India
itself — a country never beheld by the Romans, unknown to
the Goths, and in vain assailed on many occasions by the
famous Sesostris, 1 King of Egypt, Cyrus, 2 and Semiramis. 8

"When Augustus Cassar had become monarch he esteemed
it as the greatest happiness he could enjoy, among his other
pleasures, to be visited by the kings of India with presents,
and that they sent him their ambassadors to ask for peace.

"Who can well recount the great services which have
been offered to the all-unconquered King D. Manuel by the
kings of India ? the tribute which they have paid him ? the
amity which they have besought of him ? and, lastly, the

1 "Sed Germanicua visit veterum Thebarum magna vestigia:

et manebant struct!» molibus liter» -3Sgypti«, priorem opulentiam com-
plex» : jussusque e senioribus sacerdotum patrium sermonem interpre-
taria referebat, * habitasse quondam septingenta inillia setate militari:
atque eo cum ezercitu Regem Rhamsen,* Libya, Ethiopia, Medis-
que et Persis et Bactriano ac Scytha, potitum'," etc.— Tacit.,
Annal. y ii, 60.

1 This refers to the inheritance by Cyrus of the territory of his uncle
Cyaxaras, who thereby became master of nearly all Asia. His empire
included Babylon, Assyria, the Medes, the Persians, and Asia Minor.

* Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, subjugated Arabia, Egypt, part of
Ethiopia and Libya, and the whole of Asia as far as the Indus ; but,
having experienced a check on the banks of that river, did not push her
conquests any further in that direction,

* Valpy's Delphin edit, of 1821 , has the following note here, to shew
the identity of Sesostris and Rameses: " Eadem dicuntur de Sesotride a
Diodoro. ' Armais' apud Josephum, unde hos Reges depromsit Euse-
bius frater Sesothios, ipso fratre expeditionem in Asiam faciente, invasit
regnum JSgypti, etc. Iste Sesothios trinominis f uit, teste Manethone.
Yocatus enim est Ramesses et prseterea Mot pros. Sed Josephus hseo
nomina permiscuit. Nam Sesothis Josephi est Sesostris Herodoti et
Sesoõstis Diodori/'

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 183

terms of vassalage which almost all of them have been com-
pelled to accept at the hand and by the might of this illus-
trious captain ? For apart from those who by force of arms
Afonso Dalboquerqne had rendered tributary, there re-
mained not a single king of India by whom he was not ap-
proached with services of an infinite importance ; by the
King of Cambaya, by the powerful King of Narsinga, who
when he was apprised of the victory of Malaca transmitted
by his ambassadors a cup of gold, and a golden sword, with
a ruby of inestimable value set in the handle, and sent
word to beg that Afonso Dalboquerque would think fit
graciously to make use of him and of his kingdom. But
wherefore do I tarry in relating the gold and the precious
stones, and articles of value which the inGdels sent to him ?
I will pass on to what is of far greater importance. The
celebrated Preste João, lord of the whole of Ethiopia which
lies below Egypt, in order to gain him over as his friend,
sent him not gold, nor precious stones, but he sent him that
which he held in much greater estimation, and which Afonso \
Dalboquerque himself valued far more highly, and this was j
a large piece of the wood of the True Cross ; l and with it I
he sent word to say that he felt he was justified in thus
sending him that part of the True Cross 8 wherein we have
been redeemed, because he had by force of arms unfolded
the banner of the Holy Cross so far away from his father-
land.

" Historians write that Demetrius, the son of Antigonus,
who was the successor of Alexander in the lordship of
Macedonia, on account of his assiduity in capturing cities,
was called Poliorcetes, which in the Greek language signifies
the taker of cities. What name shall we give then to the
excellent captain, Afonso Dalboquerque, since he has taken

1 Vera Cruz. This adjective is very rarely used, except in connection
with Cruz, and not always then, as below.
a Verdadeira Cruz.

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184 COMMENTARIES OF

go many cities, conquered such kingdoms, dispersed so many
armies ? What happiness is there which can be compared
to that of a king who is the lord of such a subject, who by
force of arms destroyed the most powerful kingdom of
Calicut ? Did he not compel the King of Narsinga, mighty
as he was, with all his vassals, and the treasure of kingdoms,
and abundance of elephants, to come and sue for peace from
the King of Portugal? Did he not force the King of
Cambaya to accept terms of peace? Did he not restore
their kingdoms to the Kings of Cochim and Cananor after
that he had beaten them in battle ? Did he not deliver
from their heavy thraldom the Christians who lived in
India ? Did he not gain the kingdom of Ormuz ? the king-
dom of Goa Í the kingdom and Island of Ceylon? And, lastly,
not satisfied with so many victories, did not the powerfulKing
Dom Manuel send him to prosecute the war against the grand
Sultan of Egypt, and pass the Bed Sea ? And in order
that there should not be any parts of the world to which
his victories did not extend, did he not take the noble city
of Çafim 1 in Africa ?

"All which victories and most auspicious successes of
the most invincible King Dom Manuel are just so much the
more worthy of praise and honour, in proportion as we our-
selves deserve the opprobrium of mankind, for he labours
for no other object than to extend throughout the world the
Faith of Christ, which has been entrusted to us as the
righteous and universal aim of all our exertions, while we
are all occupied and overburdened in our attempts to
avenge private injuries : he attacks infidel enemies, we are
fighting against one another : he acquires for himself new
kingdoms and provinces, we by our remissness are losing

1 Cqftm, or Saffi, the ancient Rusupis, a walled town and port of
Morocco, to the north of Mogador, taken by the Portuguese in 1508,
and abandoned in 1641. See Osorius, lib. v, ad init., for the narrative
of the events connected with the Portuguese conquest of this town.

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AFONSO DALBOQUEEQUE. 185

what we already possess, and we shall lose more and more
if we do not listen to the Lord, who calls ns every day, and
cries ont to ns to awaken.

" Consider, lords, I entreat you, by your faith, how many
and how serious losses has the Christian religion suffered
for the last sixty years in these parts. Are they, perad-
venture, things that we can possibly forget f Can we recall
them to mind without great pain f What of Constantinople f 1
What of Negroponte? 2 What of Lepanto? 8 What of
Modon ? 4 What of Durazzo f 5 What of the other cities,

i Mahomet II, son and successor of Amurath, who was raised to the
Ottoman throne in the twentieth year of his age in 1451, conceived the
design of achieving the conquest of the Greek Empire, by the taking of
Constantinople. He succeeded in overcoming all the difficulties which
obstructed this enterprise, in which several of his predecessors had failed.
At the head of an army of 300,000 combatants, supported by a fleet of
300 sail, be appeared before that capital, and commenced the siege on
the sixth of April, 1453. The besieged, having only from 8,000 to
10,000 men to oppose the superior force of the enemy, yielded to the
powerful and redoubled efforts of the Turks, after a vigorous defence of
fifty -three days. The city was carried by assault on the 29th of May,
and delivered up to the unrestrained pillage of the soldiers. Constantino,
the last of the Greek emperors, perished in the first onset, and all the
inhabitants were carried into slavery. In the short space of six or seven
hours the Turks had cleared the city entirely of all its inhabitants. This
conquest was followed by that of Servia, Bosnia, Albania, Greece, and
the whole of the Peloponnesus or Morea, as well as most of the islands
of the Archipelago. The Greek Empire of Trebizond, on the coast of
Asia Minor, submitted in like manner to the law of the conqueror in
1466. Koch.

■ Negroponte, the ancient Eubcea, wrested by the Turks from the
Venetians in 1470.

* Lepanto, the ancient Naupactus, west of Athens, on the northern side
of the Gulf of Lepanto. The Turks besieged the city in 1475 without
success, but obtained possession of it in 1498. The city was reconquered
by the Venetians in 1687, but they lost it again in 1699.

4 Modon, the ancient Methone, a fortified town inMesBenia, on a rocky
projection into the sea south-west of Tripolitza. It has an octagonal
tower built upon an isolated rock. A Venetian possession, probably
captured and held by the Turks at this period.

• Durazzo, the ancient Epidamnus, and Dyrrachium, a maritime town

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186 COMMENTARIES OF

which to onr deep disgrace are in the power of the Turks f
What do we look for? except that they should take us
asleep, and destroy us while we are unprepared, and kill
us before we can put ourselves on our guard. Even now
they are making an entry into Hungary ; even now they
aro making war in Sclavonia ; even now they scour the sea
unchallenged; even now they are seeking to sieze upon
Italy.

" Now, therefore, Most Blessed Father, for you have come,
as it were a star of salvation in the midst of this unsupport-
able misery, take precautions against this, pacify these dis-
cordant motives, which actuate the Princes of Christendom,
put down for ever this miserable war which is raging among
them, for no possible good can come of it ; put aside all
animosity, so that when all are as friends again the arms
which one party have prepared against the other, combined
together, may be turned against the common enemy, 1 to
the end that when he is overcome, and we have recovered
the Holy House in union with the King Dom Manuel (who is
sending twelve thousand men under command of the Duke
of Bragança, his son-in-law, over to Africa), if we turn out
victorious we may lift up unto the Lord a trophy of the
victory which he has given to us over barbarous nations,
and those may be put to confusion who worship idols, and

of Albania, to the Bouth of Scutari. In the middle ages this town was
the seat of a Duchy held by the house of Anjou-Sicily. The Sultan
Bajazet II (1481-1512), reunited it to the Turkish Empire.

1 In an assembly held by Pope Pius H at Mantua in 1459 he had,
upwards of sixty years before the delivery of this oration, proposed a
general association among the powers of the West against the Turks.
A crusade was published by his orders, and he was on the point of setting
out in person at the head of the expedition when he was suddenly cut off
by death, in 1464, at Ancona, where he had appointed the general
rendezvous of the confederate troops. This event, added to the terror
which the arms of Sultan Mahomet II had created among the Western
nations, disconcerted the plans of the crusaders, and was the means of
dissolving their confederacy.

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AFONSO DÁLBOQUERQUE. 187

put their trust in vain gods, and that they may know the
name of the Lord, and admit that He alone is the Mighty.
One over all the world." Amen.

CHAPTER XL,

The proceedings of the Portuguese in Goa with the Captains of the
Hidalcfio, who came and besieged the city after the departure of the
great Afonso Dalboquerque for Malaca.

The Hidalc&o haying recalled to mind that which the great
Afonso Dalboquerque had sent to declare to his father (while
that commander was lying in the river of Goa, as has been
already related, when he was no longer able to restrain his
temper) that he should yet see his words come to pass, and
the city in the power of the Christians, and Milrrhao, 1 the
Hindoo, carrying on the government, and farming the
revenues of the mainland districts ; and having brought
himself to imagine that the season was favourable to get
possession of his city again, on account of the departure of
Afonso Dalboquerque for Malaca, he sent one of his captains,
who was called Pulatec&o,* with a force of infantry and horse-
men, to make their way down against Milrrhao, and cast
him forth out of the country, and endeavour as much as he
could to capture Timoja, who was in company with Milrrhao,
and as soon as he had got them into his hands to remain

* Milrrhao ; the latter part of this name is the title Rao, used by the
Hindoos for a chief or prince, probably derived from Raja. Among the
Mahrattas it is a title for distinguished persons, whether military or
civil, and is assumed by a caste of Sudras pretending to be derived from
the primitive kshatriya, or military caste. He is called Merlao in the
early part of this volume. See chapter vi.

* Pulatecão; here, as is frequently the case in this work, the name and
title of the person are combined. Pulad, or Fulad, are not unknown as
personal names in Oriental literature ; Cão is Khan, a title borne by Mo-
hammedan nobles, especially when of Persian or Pathan descent ; it is
also a common adjunct to Afghan or Pathan names.

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188 COMMENTARIES OF

quiet as he was, and wait until he should receive instruc-
tions how to proceed. Pulatecão, having set forth on his
expedition with his camp, as soon as Milrrhao received in-
formation of his intended attack, he proceeded to get ready
and wait for him with five thousand native peons and fifty
mounted men, and sent forward Hicarrhau 1 to defend a
pass in the mountain range which the enemy had to traverse,
but he was so slow about this that when he reached the
pass he found that Pulatec&o had already taken possession
of it; and Pulatecão with all his men fell upon him, and
routed him, and, pursuing him hotly, killed him in his
flight, and a large portion of the men who were with him ;
and, just as he was, without waiting for anything, he fell
upon Milrrhao's camp, and put him to rout without any loss
of time. And Milrrhao, perceiving himself to be thus worsted,
and having no hope of any succour, at the advice of Timoja
would not return to Goa, but turned his steps towards Nar-
singa, and when he arrived at Bisnaga, where the King of
Narsinga lived, he met with a very favourable reception,
and there it was that Timoja died, shortly after arriving
there ; and Milrrhao, after the lapse of some days, having
received a report from Onor that his brother, who had risen
up and taken possession of that kingdom, was dead, begged
permission of the king to depart, and proceeded to take pos-
session of that kingdom, and always remained a staunch
adherent of the King of Portugal.

Pulatecão, when he found that he had gained this victory,
and was in possession of the lands of Goa, forgetting all
that the Hidalcão had ordered him to do, desired to follow
up his good fortune, and prepared certain rafts and boats
which he found at hand, and without meeting with any re-
sistance, crossed over to the Island of Goa, and fortified his
position in Benastarim, which position Rodrigo Rabelo, who
was the captain of the city, 2 either from carelessness or from

1 Hicarrhau ; he is called Icarao in chapter vi. a See p. 42.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 189

being occupied with other matters, which he considered
more necessary, had not fortified, although Afonso Dalbo-
querquó had commanded him to do so before his departure,
for it was a place of passage, and a principal pass leading
from the mainland to the Island of Goa.

As soon as Pulatecfto had fortified Benastarim, with the
determination of maintaining the military position there, he
made an incursion through the neighbouring Hindoo villages,
destroying and burning everything that he found there.
But when Bodrigo Rabelo was informed of this he sallied
out of the city with thirty mounted men, and the aged
Alguazil of Cananor with four hundred Naires arrived with
drawn swords and shields, whom Diogo Corrêa had sent up
to his assistance, when he heard the news of the coming of
the HidaJcfto's forces, fell upon Pulatecfto very valiantly and
worsted him, and killed fifteen hundred of his Turks and
Coraçones. Nevertheless, this sudden accession of good
luck caused Bodrigo Babelo to despise the enemies whom
he had overcome, and he set himself in hot pursuit after
them with his mounted men. The Turks finding themselves
pressed by ours, rallied a party of about sixty at some old
ruins of walls, which were on a hill, in order to escape the
onrush of our men. Bodrigo Babelo got up to them, and
engaged them, but as the place where they stood was some-
what uphill, and difficult to enter on horseback, the Turks
defended themselves with such success that they killed him
and Manuel da Cunha who were in the van.

When the remainder of the Portuguese force saw they
were left without a captain, they returned again with news of
this sad disaster to the city, in which there arose much
sadness for the death of Bodrigo Babelo, because he was
a very daring Captain, and of singular bravery. And
Pulatecfto, with the remainder of his forces, retired back
to Bena8tarim, determined to make war upon the city.
The greater number of our party, who did not wish

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190 COMMENTARIES OF

that Francisco Pantojo, who was entitled to the succes-
sion because he was chief Alcaide of the fortress, should
become Captain, after some dissensions had amongst them-
selves elected as their Captain Diogo Mendez de Vascon-
celos, whom Afonso Dalboquerque had left captive in the
keep 3 , for the reasons already narrated. As soon as this
election was made, they all proceeded to the castle, and
loosed him, and delivered over to him the government of
the city, with an oath which they all took before him, that
they would obey him as the representative of the proper
person of Afonso Dalboquerque, until he himself should
make such arrangements in this matter as should seem best ;
and as soon as Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos was in pos-
session of the captainship, he wrote to Manuel de Lacerda,
who was making his way as chief Captain of a fleet against
Calicut, 8 giving him an account of all that had occurred,
and desiring him to come back to help him.

CHAPTER XLI.

How the Hidalcão, on learning that his Captain had made an entry into
the Island of Goa and taken Benaatarim without permission,
ordered Boçalcão to take it from him, and what passed thereupon.

Directly that Manuel de Lacerda received news from
Diogo Mendez of the trouble in which he was involved, he
left off guarding the coast of Calicut, and came on with all
his fleet and people to relieve Goa, and there he found all
the city in great alarm at the news that was going about
of the approach of Koçalcâo, principal Captain of the Hi-
dalcâo; with a numerous force of men, and much artillery.
And in order that they should not be taken unprepared, and
at a disadvantage, they hurried on with great rapidity the

1 See p. 48. * See p. 63.

9 See ch. ix, at end.

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 191

fortification of the city, and removal of the stockades, and
collection of provisions, before winter should come on, and
at this juncture there arrived Diogo Fernandez de Beja with
his fleet and forces, whom Afonso Dalboquerque, just before
he sailed to Malaca, had sent off to Ormuz, and this greatly
inspirited our men.

The Hidalcão, when he heard how Pulatecão had entered
into the Island of Goa, and was in possession of Benasta-
rim, fearing what he might do next, because he was a
restless character, who, after the loss of Goa, had risen up in
rebellion against him, and would not obey him, as he always
used to do in respect of the revenue of the land, sent one
of his principal Captains, in whom he had great confidence,
who was called Roçalcão, with a large force of men and
guns against Goa, with orders to do his best to eject him.

Pulatecão was not pleased at the arrival of Roçalcão, but
considered himself deeply injured by the Hidalcão sending
another Captain upon that business, when he himself had
gained the entry into the island ; and what provoked him
more than all was that it was Roçalcão, with whom he was
not on very friendly terms, and on this account he would
not obey his orders. Now, as Roçalcão was a discreet man,
and perceived that this matter could not be managed by
forcible means, he made up his mind to make use of our
people to gain his purpose, and with a most profound dis-
simulation availed himself of the following artifice.

There came in his retinue João Machado 1 with fifteen
Portuguese who had been taken prisoners with Fernão
Jacome, when his ship went ashore wherein he had set out
from Çacotorá, as has been already narrated, and among the
company of these captives came one Duarte Tavares,
esquire of the Count of Abrantes, whom the Turks took
prisoner in the Island of Choram, 9 and because this Duarte

1 See vol. ii, ch. xxxix.

8 See vol. ii, Introduction, p. cv.

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192 COMMENTARIES OF "

Tavares was a man of credit with them, Roçalcáo sent him
with a communication to Diogo Mendez, Captain of the
Island of Goa, to declare to him that the Hidalcfto, his lord,
greatly desired to have peace and friendship with the King
of Portugal, and was very much annoyed at what Pulatecáo
had done, and had therefore sent him thither with a force
to get him into his hands ; but, on arrival at Benastarim, he
had fonnd him out of his reach, and in the attitude of one
who had risen up in rebellion ; therefore Roçalcáo desired
him graciously to assist in casting him out, for the Hidalcáo
did not wish to make war upon the Portuguese, but desired
peace and friendship.

Diogo Mendez, not bearing in mind that the King of
Portugal would be better served if he assisted Pulatecáo,
who was a man with an adventurous spirit, a Turk by birth,
who had risen up in rebellion against the Hidalcão (for, had
he been assisted by our party, he might have been persuaded
to undertake some proceedings against him), and trusting
also in the words of Duarte Tavares, who came quite de-
ceived of the true state of affairs by the artifices of Roçalcáo,
agreed with all the Fidalgoes and cavaliers to help him, and
immediately made ready the boats and galleys, and ordered
Diogo Fernandez de Beja to proceed with two hundred men
up the river to assist the operations made by Roçalcáo ; and
thus by means of our assistance by water, while Roçalcáo
himself manoeuvred on the land, they fell upon Pulatecfto,
and routed him ; and when Pulatecfto saw that he had lost
the day, he fled to the mainland of Goa, where he died of
poison.

As soon as Roçalcáo had got possession of Benastarim,
and fortified it, and provided it with a large force of men,
and artillery, and munitions of war, after the lapse of a few
days, he sent a message to Diogo Mendez, begging him
greatly of his kindness to admit him into the city, for it was
the chief city of the kingdom of the Hidalcfto, his lord,

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 193

which could not be established in any other locality. At
the receipt of this message Diogo Mendez became very
downcast, and discovered the error into which he had fallen,
and those who had given their assent to his policy were
discomfited, and from that time forward Koçalcão began to
make war npon him, and kept the city closely besieged
daring the whole of that winter, so that our people under-
went many hardships, hunger, and misfortunes — far too
many for me to relate them here — up to the time when the
great Afonso Dalboquerque returned from Malaca, which
was just at the very height of these troubles, when already
there was a good space of the wall of the fortress thrown
down to the ground, which had fallen during the severe
wintry weather.

When João Machado saw that some of the Portuguese
went over to Roçalcâo, out of despair of the city being able
to hold out any longer, he left his wife and children, who
were there with him, and came over to our side with ten or
twelve Christians who desired to accompany him, and this
incident greatly inspirited our men, because it was in so
opportune a crisis. This João Machado had married a
Moorish woman, who became a Christian, and by her he had
three or four children, whom he himself baptised secretly.

CHAPTER XLII.

How the great Afonso Dalboquerque, having set sail from Malaca,
steered for the channel by which he had entered when he came
from India: and how he was wrecked on some shallows off the
Coast of Çamatra, and miraculously saved, and the rest that took
place.

The great Afonso Dalboquerque, having set out from
Malaca, steered so as to reach the channel by which he had
entered when he came from India, and when he had passed

VOL. III. o

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194 COMMENTARIES OF

over the shoals of Capacia he ordered the captains of the
ship Enzobregas and the junk to keep close together,
because they sailed well in company, lest the Javanese, who
were on board the junk, should plan any treason against
thera, while he himself and Pero Dalpoem sailed as convoy
to each other ; and thus proceeding with their voyage, when
they had gone as far forward as the Powder Island, 1 the
Pilots of Afonso Dalboquerque's ship not being on their
guard concerning certain shallows which were situated off
that part of the coast of Çamatra, just opposite to the king-
dom of Darú, 2 ran the ship Fkr-de-la-Mar ashore upon
them in the night, and the vessel, being by this time very
old, broke up into two parts directly she struck. 8

Pero Dalpoem, who was on the outer hand, let go his

* See p. 62, note 2.

' Darú is marked neither by Berthelot in Pedro Barretto de Resende's
MS., to which I have already so frequently referred, nor by Keith John-
ston in his Royal Atlas. The Portolano of Fernão Vaz Dourado, de-
scribed in the Introduction of vol. ii, marks Darú on the western side
of Sumatra.

* The parallel account of the shipwreck of Afonso Dalboquerque
from Corrêa, p. 269, is very graphic : — "Assy vindo, lhe deu hum tempo
trauessfio tão forte que nom pôde ai fazer senão sorgir, que foy com huma
ancora grande e huma amarra de rotas, que são canas delgadas mociças, que
trocem, e fazem d'ellas fortes amarras. E também sorgio Pero d'Alpoym,
que era â sua vista, que os outros nom parecião, que correrão áuante,
porque erão mais metidos no mar; mas çarrando a noite, o tempo e o
mar se tanto aleuantou que foy tromenta desfeita, em tal maneyra
que conueo ao Governador cortar todos os mastos, porque a nao trabal-
haua muyto com o mar por proa ; e mandou que todo ficasse amarrado
à nao, e de todo fizessem jangada, porque a nao se hia ao fundo com a
bomba que nom podião vencer. Polo que toda a gente se meteo no
trabalho da jangada fortemente, em que alguns morrerão, porque o mar
era grande, vendo que nom tinhão outra saluação. E porque a jangada
se desfazia na nao, então a mandou o Gouernador largar por popa, e
homens que defendião 'os negros que se hião meter n'ella com trouxas,
que seus senhores mandauSo meter. O Gouernador mandou meter os
doentes no batel por popa da jangada, e fallou a toda a gente que elle
em ciroulas e jaqueta se auia de meter na jangada; que por tanto sou-
bessem certo que d'outra maneyra ninguém n'ella nom auia d'entrar ;

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 195

anchor immediately that he heard the cries of the crew and
understood that the ship was lost, and remained where he
was all the night long in a fierce gale at the mercy of the
cable; and when morning broke the boats of the ships
Trindade and Flor-de-la-Mar having been lost (being staved
in on board the ships on account of the heavy seas breaking
over the decks), Afonso Dalboquerque gave the order that
a raft should be prepared with boards placed upon some
timbers, and he got upon it, clad in a grey jacket, and
lashed to the raft with a rope, lest the waves should sweep

pedindo a Deoe misericórdia das almas, porque das vidas ninguém fizesse
conta.

" Então o Gouernador per huma corda atada pela cinta se deitou no
esquife, e com elle os homens que couberão, e se foy a jangada em que se
meteo, e o esquife tornou á nao tantas vezes até que nom fiqou nenhum
homem portuguez ; e o Gouernador nom consentio na jangada nenhum
negro, nem negra, que todos deitou ao mar, e ficauão pegados & jangada.
Estando n'este trabalho, a nao se quebron polo conues em dous pedaços,
e se foy ao fundo ; em que se perdeo a mor riqueza d'ouro e pidraria que
nunqua se perdeo em nenhuma parte da índia, nem nunqua perderá. E
porque a madeira da nao vinha fazer mal na jangada, se aleuantarão, e
'agoa os foy leuando pêra terra, onde tornarão a sorgir com huma ancora
que leuaua o batel, e assy estiuerão com as almas nas boquas pedindo
misericórdia a Deoe, até .que amanheceo, que o vento e mar era menos.

44 Quando amanheceo, que da nao de Pêro d'Alpoym nom virão a nao do
Gouernador, e virão a madeira polo mar, a derão por perdida, e a gente
morta, ou que se fora a terra. Polo que deu a vela, e hindo pêra terra
ouverão vista da jangada, porque aleuantarão panos nas pontas das
lanças que meterão na jangada pêra defensão dos negros ; em que a nao
foy sorgir perto da jangada, que todos bradauão ; * Senhor Deoe, miseri-
córdia !' As que logo Pêro d'Alpoym mandou o batel, em que se meteo
o Gouernador com a gente que pôde, e também o batel, com a gente que
descarregou na nao se tornou á jangada áte que a descarregou ; e todavia
ouve homens que saluarão muyto ouro derrador de sy. Dom João de
Lima pôs a sua nao ao pairo, e abrio tanta agoa que correo ao som do
mar, e pôde fazer caminho porque era muyto afastado da terra, que
nada soube da perdição da nao do Gouernador, e como o tempo abonan-
çou, andou com pouqa nela aguardando polo Gouernador, que bem sabia
que ficaua atrás; e assy andando, d'ahy a dez dias o Gouernador foy ter
com elle, e seguirão seu caminho pêra Cochym, onde chegarão com
grande trabalho de bomba, meos perdidos, já em janeiro de 1512."

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196 COMMENTARIES OP

him off, and two mariners with him, who with oars impro-
vised ont of some pieces of boards rowed the raft : and so
in this plight, and by these means, and also by help of ropes
which by Pero Dalpoern's orders were thrown out, tied
to buckets, with infinite difficulty he reached the ship
Trindade.

The men who were left in the wreck of the Flor-de-la-
Mar, seeing themselves already come to the last day of
their lives, began with loud cries and complaints to shout
after Afonso Dalboquerque, who was making way on the
raft, and he, touched with profound pity at the sight of
them in this sad state of misery, told them not to be
alarmed, but to put all their trust in our Lord, for he would
promise them that he would not desert them, even if he
ventured to lose his own life and the other ship and all her
company in saving them; and he desired them, in the
meantime, to construct another raft, for he would come
back without delay for them.

While the shipwrecked men were making their raft, the
junk, which was commanded by Simão Martinz, came up on
her land-tack, very close to the spot where the remains of
the Fhr-de-la-Mar were with our men clustering upon them,
and those on board the junk clearly perceived the plight in
which they were, and then she tacked again and stood out
to sea, and they never saw her again. The reason of this
was, that the Javanese, who were on board this junk, on
account of the careless conduct of Jorge Nunez de Lião
(although Afonso Dalboquerque had especially cautioned
him in this respect, and also because of the severe illness of
Simão Martinz), rose up in mutiny, and killed all the Portu-
guese on board, without any escaping, except four mariners
who took advantage of the confusion of the outbreak and
got into an almadia, and made their way to Pace, where the
Governor, who had risen up in rebellion and taken possession
of the kingdom, received them with hospitality and shewed

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AFONSO DÀLBOQUERQUB. 197

them great honour, and sent them forward on the way to
India in a ship which had put in there coming from
Malaca bound for Ghoramandel; and just as they were
about to set out, the junk's barge came in crowded with
Javanese, and they declared that the junk was lost.

As soon as Afonso Dalboquerque had reached the ship
Trindade, after a great deal of difficulty — our Lord having
been pleased to save him miraculously, because, by all
human reason, on account of the sea running so high, it
was impossible for him to have been saved, — he remembered
the promise which he had given to those who were left
behind on the wreck, and lost no time in commanding Pero
Dalpoem to set sail so as to get up to them and take them
on board. But the crew of the ship Trindade, thinking
more of themselves than of the danger and trouble in which
their companions were, made many objections and requests
that he would not order the ship close in to the shore, for
it was shelving rock, and the wind was very high, and they
also would be wrecked.

Afonso Dalboquerque, considering that he could not with
any sense of duty fail to save those persons who had accom-
panied him in his labours, would not listen to these mur-
murings, but rather reprehended the crew for the little
remembrance which they had of the frequent occasions when
they had been, protected by these very shipwrecked com-
panions in the reverses which they had experienced in the
Malaca enterprise, and determined, at all hazards, to save
them; and creeping in shore under sail to reach the raft
which the wrecked crew had put together out of the mast and
the yard, with all the company of the ship upon it, he saw that
it was not riding to its cable (some of the mariners declared
afterwards that the cable had been cut but they did not know
who it was that did it); and because both wind and sea were
contrary for the raft to get towards the ship, but drove her
towards the shore, without those who were on her being able

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198 COMMENTARIES OF

to make any use of the pieces of oars with which they tried
to row, in order to accomplish that which he had promised
them he would do, although he had no longer any hopes of
being able to save them, he ordered the crew to set all the
sail they possibly could in order to catch up the junk before
she struck on the coast, and to get ready two anchors so as
to cast them if need should arise; and he ordered the pilots
to keep on sounding the bottom with their lead in their
hands, and, as the turn of the tide was just beginning,
and the sea filling, in a very short space of time they
reached the raft, and cast the anchors immediately in three
and a half fathoms, which was the depth which the ship
required with proper precautions; and with ropes tied to
buckets and empty barrels which they let out of the ship,
they took the junk with great trouble, and when they had
drawn the people up on board, they remained where they
were all that night with a great gale blowing behind them,
trusting in the Lord's mercy, which did not fail them; for,
just before dawn of day, there sprung up a little land breeze
which enabled them to draw off and proceed with their
voyage.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Of what was lost in the ship Flor-de-la-Mar: and how the Great Afonso
Dalboquerque, after having collected his people together on the
ship Trindade, proceeded on his route to Ceilão: and of what took
place on the voyage until they arrived at Cochim.

In this ship, Flor-de-la-Mar, and in the junk which
mutinied against us, there were lost the richest spoils that
ever were seen since India had been discovered until that
moment; and besides this, many women who were greatly
skilled workers in embroidery, and many young girls and
youths of noble family from all those countries which extend

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AFONSO DALBOQUBBQUB. 199

from the Cape of Comorim to the eastward, 1 whom Afonso
Dalboquerque was carrying to the Queen D. Maria. They
lost the castles of woodwork, ornamented with brocades,
which the King of Malaca used to carry upon his elephants,
and very rich palanquins 2 for his personal use, all plated
with gold, a marvellous thing to behold, and great store of
jewellery of good and precious stones which he was carrying
with him in order to send it as a present to the King D.
Manuel. And they lost a table with its feet all overlaid
with plates of gold, which Milrrhao presented to Afonso
Dalboquerque for the king, when the lands of Goa were
delivered up to him. For when he arrived at Gochim, with
the intention of leaving this table with the Factor, who
could forward it to Portugal, so great was the hurry to
embark, in order to save the monsoon which was getting
well forward in its season, that it was forgotten, and then
he took it with him. And all bur men also lost a great
quantity of their own things. And this so extensively,
that of all that was on board, both in the ship and the
junk, nothing was saved except the sword and crown of
gold, and the ruby ring which the king of Sião sent to the
King D. Manuel; but that which Afonso Dalboquerque
grieved for most of all in this loss was the bracelet 8 which
had been found upon Naodabegea, for he brought it with
great estimation in order to send it to the king, because
the efficacy of it was so very admirable. So also he felt very
much the loss of the lions, which he brought because they
were found on certain ancient sepulchres of the kings of
Malaca, and he took them with the intention of placing
them on his own tomb in Goa as a memorial of the
achievement of taking Malaca; and, of all the spoils which
were then taken, he reserved only these two things (the

1 Cf. Chapter xxxix, âquem do Ganges, a que 06 Portugueses chamão
do Cabo do Comorim pêra dentro. s Andores.

* See p. 62.

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200 COMMENTARIES OF

bracelet and lions) for himself, for as they were of iron they
were [not] of great value. 1

In this return journey of crossing over the Indian Ocean
to Ceilão they would have perished for want of water and
supplies if Our Lord had not succoured them by means of
two large Moorish ships which they overtook on the voyage,
bound from Çamatra and laden with pepper and silk, sandal
wood and wood aloes. 2 For as soon as Afonso Dalboquerque

1 Que por serem de ferro eram muito pêra estimar; I am inclined to
consider that não has dropped out before eram in this passage, in both
editions.

9 Lenholoes; i.e., lignum aloes. Cf. the note on lenhonoe, page 159.
As very little appears to be now known of the wood-aloes, or Calamba %
the following note will be read with interest: — " Calauiba, Calambà, ou
Calarabuco; na 1 Década, f. 17, col. 3, JoSo de Barros lhe chama Lenholoè,
aonde diz, ' passado este Reyno Camboja, entra outro Reyno Chamado
Campa, nas montanhas do qual nace o verdadeiro Lenholoè, a que os
Mouros daquellas partes chamão Calambuc 1 . Com J. de Barros se con-
forme A Academia Francesa no Diccion. das Artes, p. 90, donde diz que
os boticários chamão ao Calambà Lignum Aloes. Segundo as noticias
que me derão Antonio de Mello e Castro, Viso Rey que foy da India, e
Mauuel Godinho de Sá, Capitão da Nao Milagres, que assistio em Macáo
32 annos, Calambâ na lingoa da terra, que o produz, vai o mesmo que
doença da arvore. A rezâo desta nome he, que na Cochinchina, e nos
Reynos de Champa, e Camboja, ha grandes devezas de arvores, muy
espesas e enmaranhadas, c metendose entre ellas alguns Gentios prac-
tices, encontrão huma certa casta de arvores, e às vezes vem alguma
delias, que se vay murchando, e dizem logo comsigo, ' esta arvore parece
que tem doença' ; poem na devesa suas balizas, e vindo da hi a alguns
dias por ellas, achão a tal arvore murcha toda, e cortando-a bem rente
do chão, achão no âmago da cortadura do tronco, hum como nó, mais
preto, que, à maneira de cancro, chupou, e chamou a si o sueco e óleo
da tal arvore, que unido e junto nelle, tem o suave e precioso cheiro, que
experimentamos, e quanto mais vigor havia na arvore, mais oleoso e
precioso he o Calambuco ; e se a arvore tinha pouco alento, não ha nella

o Calambuco prezado, senão secco, e sem óleo, e vai muy pouco o

ditto Capitão Manoel Godinho provava o Calambà desta maneira.
Tirava com huma faquinha huma migalhinha deste pao, e a metia na
boca, e andava com ella entre os dentes, e se ella se-lhe-ajuntava, e
amassava entre os dentes como cera, tinha-a por boa ; e esse dia andava
ordinariameute com dores de cabeça, porque lie cousa muito quente, e de
cheiro muito penetrante ; e desta espécie tem muito pouca a Europa,

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AFONSO DALBOQUERQUE. 201

caught sight of them he gave orders to chase them, and
took them, and out of their stores he furnished himself
with provisions and water, which enabled him to make his
way to Ceilão. And because the Moors declared that the
ships came from Chaul and from Dabul, he ordered Simão
Dandrade with a prize party, and Dinis Fernandez to re-
main on board of them until he could learn the truth of it.

The Moors who formed the crew of the ship of Chaul, to
which Sira&o Dandrade was appointed, found out that he
did not know his latitude, nor yet the course they were
sailing on, so they steered their course for the Maldive
Islands, 1 and succeeded in reaching C andaluz 8 (which is the

porque tem grande preço em Japão, donde dizem, que vai mais de outenta
mil reis o arrátel. Com este precioso aroma perfumão os Japoens as
cazas e os vestidos. Usam delle os Chins nos accidentes de Paralysia, e
na falta dos espíritos vitaes. Feito em pó, e tomado em vinho, ou em
caldo, corrobora o e&tomago, veda os vómitos, e sara as dysenterias,
Dizem que a arvore, que o produz, he algum tanto mayor que oliveira,
com que também se parece. As vezes se achão humas pequenas porcoens
deste pao nas margens do Ganges, por isso lhe-chamão alguns Lignum
Paradisi.

u Escrevem alguma modernos que também se acha Calambâ, ou Calam -

buço, nas Ilhas Maldivas os Padres Missionários da Companhia no

seu livro Summarias noticias da Cochinchina mostráo que ha somente nas
terras dei Rey da Cochinchina, o qual como faz todos os gastos no desco-
brimento, tem todo o proveito da conquista. Usam muito os Japoens
delle para perfumes,' 1 etc. — Bluteau.

1 Navigators in general are not aware, more particularly those coming
from Europe, that the whole group of the Maldiva Islands are inhabited
by a civilised race of people, who carry on a considerable trade with India,
more particularly Bengal, Ceylon, and the Malabar coast, as also to the
Red Sea, and are expert sailors. They are an inoffensive, timid people,
and there appears far less crime among them than with more polished
nations ; murder is not known among them, nor is theft or drunkenness ;
being strict Mussulmans, they are forbidden the use of spirituous liquors,
which could be easily made from the fermented juice of the coco-nut

- Candaluz; this island is marked (as Camdalus) in the map from the
Portolano of Fernão Vaz Dourado, a facsimile of which is given in
yoI. ii, facing chapter i.

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202 COMMENTARIES