Volume 2, Chapter 6, Section 8 -- Transactions of the Portuguese in India under Duarte Pacheco, from the departure of Alonso and Francisco de Albuquerque in January 1504, till the arrival of Lope Suarez de Menesis with succours in September of that year.

After the departure of the Albuquerques from Cananor, Duarte Pacheco, who was left with the command in India, remained there for some time to take in provisions, having along with him the caravel commanded by Pedro Raphael, while the other ship of his small squadron, under the command of Diego Perez, was repairing at Cochin. Pacheco anchored with his own ship off the harbour of Cananor, and dispatched Raphael along the coast to oblige all ships which passed that way to come to Cananor in acknowledgment of Pacheco as captain-general in the Indies. Several were brought in by Raphael, and were constrained to give a full account from whence they came, whither bound, and what they were laden with. In case of their containing any pepper, more especially if bound for Calicut, he used to take that commodity from them; and carried his command with so high a hand, that he became the terror of these seas.

One night while thus at anchor, a fleet of twenty-five ships came suddenly to the anchoring-ground where he lay, which he suspected to have been sent from Calicut on purpose to attack him. Considering himself in imminent danger, he immediately slipped his cables, not having time to weigh anchor, and made sail to gain the windward of this fleet, upon which he directly commenced firing. They were mostly small ships laden with rice, and made off with all the haste in their power, though some of them ran aground. One of the vessels of this fleet was a large ship belonging to the Moors of Cananor, having nearly 400 men on board, who resisted for some time, shooting off their arrows, and even endeavoured to take our ship. When day was near at hand, and after having nine men slain in the action, the Moorish captain at length submitted, and told Pacheco that he belonged to Cananor.

After some time spent in this manner, Pacheco made sail for Cochin, and in the passage fell in with several ships belonging to the Moors, taking some, and burning or sinking others. On landing at the fort of Cochin, he learnt from the factor that the reports of the Zamorin making preparations for the renewal of the war were perfectly true, and even that the Moorish inhabitants of Cochin were adverse to the rajah for having taken part with the Portuguese against the Zamorin. Being informed likewise that the Cochin rajah was in great fear of this new war, he went next day to visit him, carrying all his boats well manned, and fenced with raised sides of boards to defend his men from the missile weapons of the enemy. They were likewise furnished with ordnance, and all decorated with flags and streamers in a gallant manner, hoping thereby to inspire confidence in Trimumpara, who was much dejected at the small force which had been left for his defence.

In a conference between them, the rajah said to Pacheco, that the Moors asserted he was left in the Indies for the sole purpose of removing the merchandize belonging to the Portuguese in the factory at Cochin to Cananor and Coulan, and not to defend him against the power of the Zamorin; which he was even disposed to think were true, in consideration of the smallness of the fleet under his command. Pacheco felt indignant at the suspicion which the rajah entertained, and endeavoured to convince him that he had been imposed upon by the Moors out of enmity to the Portuguese, assuring him that he would faithfully exert himself in his defence. He pointed out to him the strength of the natural defences of Cochin, which were all narrow, and defensible therefore by a few valiant men against any number of assailants. The rajah was greatly relieved by these assurances, and Pacheco went to visit the different places by which the island of Cochin might be assailed, all of which he diligently fortified, more especially the ford, which he strengthened with a row of stakes, both to prevent the enemy from wading across, and to hinder any of their vessels from passing.

In the meantime he was informed by letter from Rodrigo Reynel that a principal Moor in Cochin, in concert with several others, were contriving to quit that city; and had been twice secretly at Calicut to confer with the Zamorin on this subject. Pacheco was a good deal concerned at this intelligence, and proposed to the rajah to have this Moor executed for his treasonable intercourse with the Zamorin. But Trimumpara would by no means consent to this measure; saying that it would occasion a mutiny among the Moors, by whom the city was furnished with provisions in exchange for goods, and be thought it were better to dissemble with them all. Pacheco then said that he would have a conference with the Moors, meaning to use policy with them, since the rajah did not approve of violent measures; and to this the rajah consented, giving orders to his Nayres to obey the orders of Pacheco.

In pursuance of this plan, Pacheco went to the dwelling of this chief Moor, named Belinamacar, close by the river, taking with him a guard of his own men well armed, and requested that person to send for some other leading men among the Moors, whom he named, saying that he wished to consult with them on a subject of great importance to them all. When they were all assembled, he made them a speech to the following effect.

"I sent for you, honest merchants, that I might inform you for what purpose I remain in the Indies. It is reported by some, that I mean only to remove the factory and the goods belonging to the Portuguese to Coulan and Cananor: But my sole purpose is to defend Cochin against the Zamorin, and even if necessary I will die in your defence. I am resolved to meet him in Cambalan, by which way it is said he means to invade you; and if he has the boldness to meet me, I hope to make him prisoner and to carry him with me into Portugal. I am informed that you intend to go away from Cochin, and to induce the rest of the inhabitants among whom you are the chiefs, to do the same; but I am astonished men of your wisdom should leave the country in which you were born, and where you have dwelt so many years, from fear of vain reports. Such conduct were even disgraceful for women, and is therefore much more so for you who are men of wisdom and experience. If you should be disposed to remove from hence when you shall actually be in danger, I should hardly blame you: But to do so before that danger is apparent, and even before a single battle has been fought, must proceed either from cowardice or treachery. You all well know, that only a very short while ago, a very small number of our Portuguese defeated thousands of those same enemies who now threaten to invade us. You may allege that we were then more in number than now, which was assuredly the case. But we then fought in the open field, where numbers were necessary; and we now propose only to fight in narrow passes, in which a small number will suffice as well as a multitude. You already know that I can fight, as it is I who have done the greatest injury to the enemy in the late war, which the rajah can well vouch. As for me, I shall never yield; and I have more to lose, being overcome, than any of you. Put your trust therefore in me and my troops, and remain where you are till you see the event of our defence. Your sovereign remains in his port, and wherefore should you go away? I and the Portuguese who are with me, remain in this far-distant country to defend your king, and you who are his natural born subjects. Should you then desert him and your country, you would disgrace yourselves, and dishonour me, by refusing to repose confidence in my promise to defend you against the Zamorin and all his power, were it even greater than it is. Wherefore, I strictly enjoin that none of you shall remove from Cochin, and I swear by all that is holy in our faith, that whoever is detected in the attempt shall be instantly hanged. It is my determined purpose to remain here, and to have the port strictly watched day and night, that none of you may escape. Let every one of you, therefore, look well to his conduct, and be assured, if you do as I require, you shall have me for your friend; but if otherwise, I shall be your mortal enemy, and shall use you worse even than the Zamorin."

In consequence of all these precautions, the people of Cochin were so much afraid of him, that not one of the Moors or Malabars dared to leave the city without his permission, and henceforwards continued quiet. Notwithstanding all these cares, Pacheco used to make nightly invasions into the island of Repelim, where he burnt the towns, slew the inhabitants, and carried away much cattle and many paraws; on which account the Moors of Cochin, astonished that he could endure so much fatigue, gave out that he was the devil.

Meantime the Zamorin collected his forces in the island of Repelim, where he was joined by the lords of Tanor, Bespur, Kotugan, Korin, and many other Malabar chiefs, making altogether an army of 50,000 men. Four thousand of these were appointed to serve by water, in 280 vessels, called paraws, katurs, and tonys; with 382 pieces of cannon intended to batter the Portuguese fort at Cochin; and the rest of the troops were appointed to force a passage across the ford of the river, under the command of Naubea Daring, nephew and heir to the Zamorin, and Elankol, the lord of Repelim.[1]

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

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

Pacheco arrived at the passage of Cambalan two hours before day, and seeing no appearance of the Zamorin's approach, he made an attack on a town on the coast of the island about the dawn, which was defended by 300 Nayres, all archers, and a small number armed with calivers, or match-locks, all of whom were embarked in certain paraws, and endeavoured to defend the entrance of the harbour. They were soon constrained by the cannon of the Portuguese to push for the shore and quit their paraws, but resisted all attempts of the Portuguese to land for near an hour, when they were completely defeated after losing a great many of their number, killed or wounded, and our men set the town on fire. Having taken a considerable number of cattle at this place, which he carried off with him, Pacheco returned to defend the pass of Cambalan.

At this time the Zamorin sent a message to Pacheco, offering him a handsome present, and proposing a treaty for a peace between them; but Pacheco refused accepting the present, and declared he would never make peace with him while he continued at enmity with the rajah of Cochin. Next day, the Zamorin sent a second message, proudly challenging him for daring to obstruct his passage into the island of Cochin, and offering him battle, declaring his resolution to make him a prisoner, if he were not slain in the battle. To this Pacheco made answer, that he hoped to do the same thing with the Zamorin, in honour of the day which was a solemn festival among the Christians, and that the Zamorin was much deceived by his sorcerers when they promised him the victory on such a day. Then one of the Nayres who accompanied the messenger, said, smiling as if in contempt, that he had few men to perform so great an exploit; whereas the forces of the Zamorin covered both the land and the water, and could not possibly be overcome by such a handful. Pacheco ordered this man to be well bastinadoed for his insolence, and bid him desire the Zamorin to revenge his quarrel if he could.

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

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

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

Our people plied their ordnance and small arms so incessantly that the air was quite darkened with smoke, and as the boats of the enemy were very numerous and without order, they hindered each other, and our fire did prodigious execution among them, several of their paraws being torn to pieces and great numbers of their men killed and wounded, without any hurt on our side. The twenty-five paraws[3] which were chained together were now brought forwards, and gave much annoyance to our men, who were now likewise much fatigued, as the battle had continued a long time. The captain-general gave orders to fire off a sake,r[4] which had not been hitherto used during the battle. By the time this had been twice fired, it did such terrible execution among the thick of the enemy as to sink four of their paraws, and all the others made the best of their way out of the battle, eighteen of the paraws being sunk in all, and vast numbers of the enemy slain and wounded.

On the defeat of this squadron, which was commanded by Prince Naubea Daring, Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who was vice-admiral, came forward with a fresh squadron, and gave a proud onset, commanding his paraws to lay the caravel on board; but the Malabars had not resolution to put this order into execution, and held off at some distance. The Zamorin also approached with the land army, doing his utmost to force the passage of the ford; but all their efforts were in vain, although this second battle was more fiercely urged than the first. Though the battle continued from daybreak to almost sunset, the enemy were able to make no impression, and were known to have lost 350 men slain outright, besides others, which were above 1000.[5] Some of our men were wounded, but none slain; for the balls of the enemy, though of cast iron, had no more effect than as many stones thrown by hand. Yet our barricades of defence were all torn to pieces, and one of our boats was very much damaged, which was entirely repaired during the night.

The rajahs and other chiefs who were allied with the Zamorin lost all hope of ever being able to get the victory over the Portuguese, and were sorry for having joined in the war, so greatly to their own dishonour. Being afraid the captain-general might burn and destroy their towns and houses, which were all situated on the banks of rivers, they were anxious to leave the army of the Zamorin, and to give over making war on the Portuguese. Some among them withdrew privately from the camp of the Zamorin to the island of Vaipi with all their men, and reconciled themselves with the rajah of Cochin. These were Maraguta, Muta Caymal, his brother and cousins. The Zamorin was exceedingly mortified by the discomfiture of his people, and severely reprimanded his chiefs for their pusillanimous conduct in allowing themselves to be defeated by such a handful of men.

The two Italian deserters, while they acknowledged the valour of the Portuguese in the late action, represented that it would be impossible for them to continue to bear up long against such vast odds without reinforcements, and recommended the frequent reiteration of assaults, under which they must necessarily be at last overthrown. All those rajahs and chiefs who were for continuing the war, joined in opinion with the Italians. The Zamorin made a speech, in which he recapitulated the defeats they had sustained and the defection of some of his allies, who had entered into treaty with the rajah of Cochin. He stated how short a period of the summer now remained for continuing the operations of the war, which must soon be laid aside during the storms and rain of the winter season, when it was impossible to keep the field; and that, on the conclusion of winter, a new fleet would come from Portugal with powerful reinforcements to the enemy, who would then be able to carry the war as formerly into his dominions, to their utter loss and destruction. He concluded by giving his opinion that it was necessary for him to make peace with the Christians.

Naubea Daring, the prince of Calicut, made a long speech, in which he defended the Portuguese against the imputation thrown upon them by the Moors, of their being thieves and pirates. He recapitulated all their conduct since their first arrival in India, showing that they had always conducted themselves with good faith, whereas they had been forced into war against Calicut by treachery and oppression. He concluded by strongly recommending to negotiate peace with the Christians, as otherwise the city and trade of Calicut would be utterly destroyed, to the irreparable injury of the Zamorin's revenue, which was of more importance to him than the friendship of the Moors, whose only object was their own profit. The Zamorin was greatly moved by this discourse, and recommended to the other chiefs that they should concur with the prince, in procuring the establishment of peace. This opinion was by no means relished by Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who had confederated with the Moors to urge a continuance of the war, and endeavoured to impress upon the Zamorin that his reputation would be destroyed by proposing peace at this time, which would be imputed to him as an act of cowardice. The principal Moors, likewise, who were present in the council used all their art and influence to induce the Zamorin to persevere; and it was at length determined to continue the war.

One Cogeal, a Moor of Repelim who had been a great traveller, and had seen many warlike devices, proposed a new invention for attacking the caravels at the ford, which was considered to be perfectly irresistible. Cogeal directed a floating castle to be built of timber on two boats or lighters, which were firmly secured by two beams at their heads and sterns. Over this the castle or square tower was strongly built of beams joined together by bars of iron and large nails, carried up to the height of a lance or spear, and so large that it was able to contain forty men with several pieces of ordnance. It was proposed that this castle should be brought up to grapple with the caravels, by which the Portuguese might be attacked on equal terms. On seeing this machine, the Zamorin liberally rewarded Cogeal for his ingenuity, and gave orders to have [[an]]other seven constructed of the same kind.

By means of his spies, Pacheco got notice of the construction of these floating castles, and likewise that the enemy were preparing certain fireworks to set the caravels on fire.[6] To keep off the fireships and floating castles, he constructed a species of rafts, made of masts or spars eight fathoms long, and bound together with iron bolts and hoops. Several of these, which were likewise eight fathoms broad, were moored with anchors and cables, at the distance of a stone's throw from the caravels. Likewise, to prevent the caravels from being overlooked by the floating castles, one Peter Raphael built certain turrets on the decks of the caravels of spars set upright, in each of which seven or eight men had room to handle their arms. At this time the rajah of Cochin visited Pacheco, whom he earnestly exhorted to provide well for defence against the Zamorin; as he was well assured his own subjects would desert him, if Pacheco were defeated. Pacheco upbraided Trimumpara for his tears, desiring him to call in mind the victories which the Portuguese had already gained over the enemy; and requested of him to return to his capital showing himself confident among his people, and to rest assured that he and the Portuguese would keep the pass against every force the Zamorin might bring against it.

In expectation of an immediate attack, Lorenco Moreno returned to the caravels with as many of his people as could be spared from the factory. Pacheco made all his people take rest early in the night, that they might be able for the expected fatigues of the ensuing day, on which he had intelligence that the grand attack was to be made. About midnight, his small force was summoned under arms; when, after confession and absolution, he made a speech to his men, exhorting them to behave themselves manfully in the approaching conflict. They all answered, that they were resolved to conquer or die. About two in the morning, some of the most advanced vessels belonging to the Calicut fleet began to fire off their ordnance, as they approached towards the pass. The Zamorin was himself along with the land army, which exceeded 30,000 men, accompanied with many field pieces.

Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who commanded the vanguard, advanced to the point of Arraul, which in some measure commanded the ford, at which place he began to throw up some ramparts or defences of earth. Pacheco landed secretly at the point with a detachment of his troops, on purpose to prevent the enemy from throwing up entrenchments, and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which many of the enemy were slain. On the appearance of day, Pacheco retired to his boats, though with no small difficulty, owing to the vast numbers of the enemy who thronged around; yet got off with all his people unhurt, having effectually hindered the proposed intrenchments.

The land army of the enemy now brought their ordnance to the point where they began a furious cannonade upon the caravels, yet without doing us any harm, as our people were all effectually secured by means of high wooden defences on the gunwales of their vessels; whereas every shot of ours made prodigious havoc among the enemy, who were quite unsheltered. The Zamorin sent orders to his fleet to come on with all expedition, to deliver him and his men from this imminent danger. The Calicut fleet now approached in most formidable order, having several fire rafts in front, intended for setting our caravels on fire. After them came 110 paraws full of men, and every one of them having ordnance, many of these being fastened together by means of chains. After these came 100 catures and eighty tonys, each of which had a piece of ordnance and thirty men. In the rear of all came the eight castles, which kept close by the point of Arraul, as the ebb was not yet altogether entered.[7]

The enemy came on with loud shouts and the sound of many instruments, as if to an assured victory, and immediately began a furious cannonade. Their fire rafts advanced burning in a most alarming manner, but were stopped by the canizos, or rafts of defence, formerly mentioned. By these likewise, the paraws and other vessels of the enemy were prevented from closing with our caravels and boats, which they seem to have intended. In this part of the battle many of the paraws and other vessels of the enemy were torn to pieces and sunk, and a great number of their men were killed and wounded. On the turn of the tide, the floating castles put off from the point, and were towed by boats towards the caravels. In the largest of these castles there were forty men, in others thirty-five, and the smallest had thirty, all armed with bows or matchlocks, besides ordnance; and they seemed quite an irresistible force in comparison of ours, which consisted only of two caravels and two armed boats.

When the largest castle came up to our floating defence, it immediately commenced a tremendous fire of all its ordnance upon our caravels; and at this time Pacheco ordered a saker to be shot off, which seemed to do very little harm even at a second discharge. The remainder of the castles now came into their stations, and the battle raged with the utmost fury. What with incessant flights of arrows, and the smoke of so many guns, our people could seldom see the vessels of the enemy. In this extremity, the saker was discharged a third time against the largest castle, which had been somewhat shaken by the two former discharges. By this shot its iron work was broken, some of its beams were forced from their places, and several of the men on board were slain. By two other discharges of the saker this castle was all torn in pieces, and was forced to retire out of the battle. Still however the rest of the castles, and the numerous fleet of small craft kept up the fight.

Towards evening all the castles were much injured, many of the paraws were sunk and torn in pieces, and great numbers of the enemy slain; so that at length they were constrained to retire. On our side not one man was even wounded. One only ball went through the caravel in which Pacheco commanded, and passed among many of his men without doing any hurt. On the enemy retiring, Pacheco gave chase in the two boats and some paraws; and the caravels kept up a constant fire upon point Arraul, whence they forced the Zamorin and the land army to retire, after having 330 of his men slain. After this great victory, the inhabitants of Cochin became quite reassured, and were no longer in dread of the power of the Zamorin. Trimumpara came to visit Pacheco, whom he embraced, and congratulated on his great prowess. Many of the principal Nayres of Cochin went to compliment him; and even numbers of the Moorish merchants brought him rich presents, hoping to secure his favour.

The Zamorin was greatly disheartened by the overthrow of all his mighty preparations, and losing all hope of victory, wished seriously to end the war. In a council of his allies and great men, they represented the great losses they had already endured in the war with the Portuguese, and proposed to treat with them for peace. His brother Naubea Daring, who had always been averse to the war, seemed to believe that Pacheco would refuse any treaty, and advised rather to defer making an offer of peace till the arrival of the next captain-general from Portugal. This prince was likewise of opinion that the Calicut army should still keep the field till the coming on of the rainy season made it advisable to retire; as it would look like flight to retreat at this time. Yet he recommended that no more attacks should be made on the pass, in which attempts they had already met with so much loss.

Elankol, the lord of Repelim, urged the continuance of the war, and to make reiterated assaults on the Christians, which must be at last successful; by which means all the Portuguese that were in Cochin, Cananor, and Coulan would be destroyed. He advised likewise, to send false intelligence to these places, saying that they had taken our caravels and slain all our men; on which news the people of Cananor and Coulan would put the people in our factories to death. This was accordingly done; but as the inhabitants of these places had already received notice of the real state of affairs, they gave no credit to this false story. Yet, owing to the malice of the Moors who dwelt in these places, our men were in great danger and durst not come out of their factories, and one of our men was slain in Coulan.

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

The Zamorin gave orders to some of his Nayres in whom he reposed great confidence, that they should go to Cochin on some false pretence, and endeavour to assassinate the general of the Portuguese and such of his men as they could meet with. But the Nayres are an inconsiderate people, unable to keep any of their affairs secret, so that this shameful device became immediately known to Pacheco, who appointed two companies of the Cochin Nayres to keep strict watch for these spies; one company at the ford, and the other along the river, waiting by turns day and night. By this means these spies were detected and made prisoners. The chief spy was a Nayre of Cochin, of the family or stock of the Lecros, who had certain other Nayres attending upon him, who were strangers. On being brought before him, he ordered them to be all cruelly whipt and then to be hanged. The Cochin Nayres remonstrated against this punishment, because they were Nayres whose customs did not allow of this mode of execution; but he would not listen to their arguments, saying that their treachery richly merited to be so punished.

The Portuguese officers represented to him the great troubles which the rajah of Cochin had endured for giving protection to their nation, and how much this action might displease him, when he was informed of Nayres having been put to death in his dominions without his authority. Besides, that this might give occasion to some of those about the rajah, who were known to be already unfriendly to the Portuguese, to insinuate that the captain-general had usurped the authority from the rajah, and might in that way wean his affections from them. Pacheco was convinced by these arguments that he had acted wrong, and immediately sent to countermand the execution. Two of them were already half-dead; but those who were still living, he sent to the rajah, informing him that they had deserved death, but that from respect to him he had spared their lives. The rajah was singularly gratified by this mark of respect, and the more so because there happened to be then present several of his principal nobles and some chiefs from other places, besides sundry of the chief of the Moors of Cochin, who had endeavoured to impress on his mind that the Portuguese were willing [[=intending]] to assume the command in his dominions.[8] Henceforwards Pacheco had such good intelligence, that all the subtle devices of the zamorin were counteracted.

The month of June was now ended and the rainy season, or winter, began to come on, from which Pacheco naturally concluded that the Zamorin would soon break up his encampment, on which occasion he was fully resolved to give them an assault, having sufficient experience of the pusillanimity of the enemy. But the Zamorin, being afraid that Pacheco might attack him at his departure, gave out that he intended to make another assault on the ford with a greater fleet than ever, and even directed the floating castles to be repaired. He even gave out that he meant to assail the passage of Palurte and the ford both at once; that Pacheco might occupy himself in preparing to defend both places, and he might have the better opportunity to steal away unperceived. Accordingly, on the evening of Saturday, which was the eve of St. John,[9] the whole army of the enemy appeared as usual, and Pacheco fully expected to have been attacked that night. Next morning, however, he learnt from two Bramins that the Zamorin had withdrawn with all his army into the island of Repelim. Pacheco was much disappointed at this news, yet he made a descent that very day into Repelim, where he fought with many of the enemy, killing and wounding a great number of them, and then returned to the ford, where he remained several days, because the rajah was still afraid lest the Zamorin might return and get across the ford into the island of Cochin.

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

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

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

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[1] This paragraph, enumerating the forces of the Zamorin, is added to the text of Castaneda from Astley, Vol. I. p. 56.
[2] The particular distribution of the force under Pacheco at this time is thus enumerated in Astley's Collection: In the fort thirty-nine men; in the ship left to defend Cochin twenty-five; in the caravel which accompanied him in the expedition to Cambalan twenty-six; into one boat twenty-three; and in the boat along with himself twenty-two; making his whole effective force 135 men; seventy-one only of which went along with him to defend the pass.--Astl. I. 56.
[3] A very short space before these are only stated as twenty; but the numbers and names in the text seem much corrupted.--E.
[4] In a former note we have given a list of the names and circumstances of the English ordnance near this period. In that list the saker is described as a light cannon of only 5-1/2 pound ball, now looked upon as one of very small importance; we may therefore conclude that the other cannon used on the present occasion could hardly exceed falcouns, or two-pounders.--E.
[5] Such is the unintelligible expression in Lichefild's translation. In the account of this war compiled by the editor of Astley's Collection from the Portuguese historians, the enemy are said to have lost in the former part of this battle, twenty paraws sunk, 180 persons of note, and above 1000 common men; while in the second attack, nineteen paraws were sunk, sixty-two fled, and 360 men were slain. In this account, a third naval engagement is mentioned, in which sixty-two paraws were sunk, and sixty fled; after which 15,000 men were defeated by land, and four towns were burnt by Pacheco.--Astl. I. 56.
[6] Castaneda tells a long ridiculous story at this place, of a ceremonial defiance of the Zamorin, not worth inserting. In Astley, I. 56., we are told that the Moors of Cochin were detected about this time communicating intelligence to the enemy, and that Trimumpara allowed Pacheco to punish them. On which he put five of their chief men into strict confinement, giving out that they were hanged; which gave much offence to the rajah and his people.--E.
[7] Such are the words of Lichefild; which, perhaps may have been intended to imply that there was not yet sufficient depth of water to allow of their approach to the caravels; or it may mean that they waited for the tide of ebb, to carry them towards the Portuguese caravels, being too cumbrous for management by means of oars.--E.
[8] This seems the same story which has been already mentioned in a former note, from Astley's Collection; but which is there related as having taken place with Moors.--E.
[9] The nativity of St. John the Baptist is the 24th June; the eve therefore is the 23d, yet Castaneda has already said that June was ended.--E.
[10] About this time, in consequence of a message from the Portuguese factor at Coulan, stating that the Moors obstructed the market for pepper, Pacheco went to that place, where he made five Moorish ships submit, and settled the pepper market on fair terms, yet without doing them any harm.--Astl. I. 57.
[11] According to Astley, the zamorin lost 18,000 men in this war in five months, and desired peace, which was granted by the rajah of Cochin.-- Astl. I. 57.
Yet this could hardly be the case, as the first operation of the new commander-in-chief in India was to cannonade Calicut.--E.