At First The Portuguese Received Some Damage; But In The End
Rotzomo Khan Agreed To Surrender The Fort With All Its Cannon And
Ammunition, To Deliver Up All The Portuguese Prisoners And Deserters,
And To Evacuate The Island Of Goa And Its Dependencies.
The Portuguese
deserters were severely punished by order of Albuquerque, having their
ears, noses, right hands, and the thumbs of their left cut off, in which
mutilated condition they were sent home to Portugal.
One of these, named
Ferdinando Lopez, as a penance for his crimes, voluntarily remained with
a negro at the island of St Helena, where he began some cultivation, and
was afterwards serviceable to several ships that called in there, by
furnishing them with refreshments.
Having thus completely relieved Goa, Albuquerque endeavoured to gain
over Rotzomo Khan to the Portuguese service, but unsuccessfully; but his
good fortune made a great impression on many of the native princes,
several of whom sent pacific embassies to the viceroy. The king of
Calicut, terrified at the growing power of the Portuguese, concluded a
treaty of peace with Don Garcia, whom his uncle had sent to take the
command at Cochin[130]. The kings of Narsinga, Visiapour, Bisnagar, and
other districts of India, sent ambassadors to the viceroy; who
endeavoured in his answers to impress them powerfully with the value of
amity with the Portuguese, and dread of encountering their arms, and
sent back envoys of his own to these princes, to acquire intelligence
respecting their power and resources. There arrived likewise at Goa an
ambassador from the Christian sovereign of Abyssinia, whom the
Europeans denominate Prester John[131], who was destined to go over to
Portugal, carrying a piece of the true cross, and letters for the king
of Portugal from the queen-mother Helena, who governed Abyssinia
during the minority of her son David. The purport of this embassy was to
arrange a treaty of amity with the king of Portugal, and to procure
military aid against the Moors who were in constant hostility with that
kingdom. This ambassador reported that there were then three Portuguese
at the Abyssinian court, one of whom, named Juan, called himself
ambassador from the king of Portugal; and two others, named Juan Gomez
and Juan Sanchez, who had been lately set on shore at Cape Guardafu, by
order of Albuquerque, in order to explore the country.
[Footnote 130: The editor of Astleys Collection adds, with liberty to
build a fort; but this condition is not to be found in the text of
Faria, which is followed in that work literally on most occasions,
though often much abridged. - E.]
[Footnote 131: In our early volumes it will be seen that this imaginary
Prete Jani, Prester John, or the Christian Priest-king, had been
sought for in vain among the wandering tribes of eastern Tartary. The
Portuguese now absurdly gave that appellation to the Negus of Habesh, or
Emperor of the Abyssinians; where a degraded species of Christianity
prevails among a barbarous race, continually engaged in sanguinary war
and interminable revolution.
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