An interview had been appointed to take place between the king and
Albuquerque; but prompted by his fears, Hamet endeavoured to shun this
danger, by proposing that Albuquerque should wait upon the king, lest if
the king went to visit the viceroy, he might be obliged to attend him.
But Albuquerque insisted upon receiving the visit of the king, which was
at last agreed to, on condition that neither party was to be armed. Some
of the attendants upon Hamet were however secretly armed, and Hamet came
armed himself, and pressed foremost into the room with much rudeness, on
which Albuquerque made a concerted signal to his captains, who.
instantly dispatched him. After this the king came, and a conference
began between him and the viceroy, which was soon interrupted by a
violent clamour among the people, who supposed their king was slain. But
the people belonging to Hamet, knowing that their master had been
killed, ran and fortified themselves in the kings palace. Albuquerque
proposed immediately to have dispossessed them by means of his troops;
but the king and governor found other means of expelling these men from
the city, who to the number of 700 men went to Persia.
[Footnote 136: Reis or Rais signifies a chief, and is commonly given on
the coasts of Arabia and Persia to sea captains: In Faria it is
Raez. - Astl I. 75. 2.]
When this tumult was appeased, the people of Ormuz were much gratified
at seeing their king conducted back to his palace in great pomp,
attended by Albuquerque and all his officers, more especially as he was
now freed from the tyranny of Hamet, and restored to the majesty of a
king[137]. Albuquerque now dispatched the Persian ambassador,
accompanied by Ferdinando Gomez, carrying a present of double the value
of that he had received, and having orders to give a proper account of
the late transactions at Ormuz, especially in regard to Reis Hamet.
Gomez was well received, and brought back a favourable answer. It would
require more room than can be spared in this history to give an account
of the affairs of Persia; it may therefore suffice to say that the
valiant prince who reigned over Persia at this time was engaged in war
with the Turks, and was desirous of taking advantage of the Portuguese
assistance against his enemy.
[Footnote 137: It is scarce possible to conceive how Faria could gravely
make this observation, when the Portuguese had imposed an annual tribute
on the king of Ormuz, and were actually building a fortress to keep the
capital under subjection. - E.]
While the fort of Ormuz was building, or rather finishing, Albuquerque
persuaded the king that it would contribute to the safety of the city to
put all their cannon into the fort to defend them against their enemies,
but in reality to disable them from resisting the Portuguese domination.
Security is a powerful argument with those who are in fear, so that the
king and his governor reluctantly consented to this demand.
