Mahomet On His Part Was Not Idle; He Solicited The Assistance Of The
Mahometan Princes, Pressed Them With All The Motives Of Religion,
And Obtained A Reinforcement Of Two Thousand Musketeers From The
Arabs, And A Train Of Artillery From The Turks.
Animated with these
succours, he marched out of his trenches to enter those of the
Portuguese, who received him
With the utmost bravery, destroyed
prodigious numbers of his men, and made many sallies with great
vigour, but losing every day some of their small troops, and most of
their officers being killed, it was easy to surround and force them.
Their general had already one arm broken, and his knee shattered
with a musket-shot, which made him unable to repair to all those
places where his presence was necessary to animate his soldiers.
Valour was at length forced to submit to superiority of numbers; the
enemy entered the camp and put all to the sword. The general with
ten more escaped the slaughter, and by means of their horses
retreated to a wood, where they were soon discovered by a detachment
sent in search of them, and brought to Mahomet, who was overjoyed to
see his most formidable enemy in his power, and ordered him to take
care of his uncle and nephew, who were wounded, telling him he
should answer for their lives; and, upon their death, taxed him with
hastening it. The brave Portuguese made no excuses, but told him he
came thither to destroy Mahometans, and not to save them. Mahomet,
enraged at this language, ordered a stone to be put on his head, and
exposed this great man to the insults and reproaches of the whole
army. After this they inflicted various kinds of tortures on him,
which he endured with incredible resolution, and without uttering
the least complaint, praising the mercy of God who had ordained him
to suffer in such a cause.
Mahomet, at last satisfied with cruelty, made an offer of sending
him to the viceroy of the Indies, if he would turn Mussulman. The
hero took fire at this proposal, and answered with the highest
indignation that nothing should make him forsake his heavenly Master
to follow an impostor, and continued in the severest terms to vilify
their false prophet, till Mahomet struck off his head.
Nor did the resentment of Mahomet end here; he divided his body into
quarters, and sent them to different places. The Catholics gathered
the remains of this glorious martyr, and interred them. Every Moor
that passed by threw a stone upon his grave, and raised in time such
a heap, as I found it difficult to remove when I went in search of
those precious relics.
What I have here related of the death of Don Christopher de Gama I
was told by an old man, who was an eye-witness of it: and there is
a tradition in the country that in the place where his head fell, a
fountain sprung up of wonderful virtue, which cured many diseases
otherwise past remedy.
Chapter VI
Mahomet continues the war, and is killed. The stratagem of Peter
Leon.
Mahomet, that he might make the best use of his victory, ranged over
a great part of Abyssinia in search of the Emperor Claudius, who was
then in the kingdom of Dambia. All places submitted to the
Mahometan, whose insolence increased every day with his power; and
nothing after the defeat of the Portuguese was supposed able to put
a stop to the progress of his arms.
The soldiers of Portugal, having lost their chief, resorted to the
Emperor, who, though young, promised great things, and told them
that since their own general was dead, they would accept of none but
himself. He received them with great kindness, and hearing of Don
Christopher de Gama's misfortune, could not forbear honouring with
some tears the memory of a man who had come so far to his succour,
and lost his life in his cause.
The Portuguese, resolved at any rate to revenge the fate of their
general, desired the Emperor to assign them the post opposite to
Mahomet, which was willingly granted them. That King, flushed with
his victories, and imagining to fight was undoubtedly to conquer,
sought all occasions of giving the Abyssins battle. The Portuguese,
who desired nothing more than to re-establish their reputation by
revenging the affront put upon them by the late defeat, advised the
Emperor to lay hold on the first opportunity of fighting. Both
parties joined battle with equal fury. The Portuguese directed all
their force against that part where Mahomet was posted. Peter Leon,
who had been servant to the general, singled the King out among the
crowd, and shot him into the head with his musket. Mahomet, finding
himself wounded, would have retired out of the battle, and was
followed by Peter Leon, till he fell down dead; the Portuguese,
alighting from his horse, cut off one of his ears. The Moors being
now without a leader, continued the fight but a little time, and at
length fled different ways in the utmost disorder; the Abyssinians
pursued them, and made a prodigious slaughter. One of them, seeing
the King's body on the ground, cut off his head and presented it to
the Emperor. The sight of it filled the whole camp with
acclamations; every one applauded the valour and good fortune of the
Abyssin, and no reward was thought great enough for so important a
service. Peter Leon, having stood by some time, asked whether the
King had but one ear? if he had two, says he, it seems likely that
the man who killed him cut off one and keeps it as a proof of his
exploit. The Abyssin stood confused, and the Portuguese produced
the ear out of his pocket. Every one commended the stratagem; and
the Emperor commanded the Abyssin to restore all the presents he had
received, and delivered them with many more to Peter Leon.
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