George de Albuquerque the
admiral reached India with only four sail.
One was driven back to
Lisbon. Another watering at Matira lost some men, and six more at
Oja, whom the king long kept with kind entertainment; but their ship
which left them was lost on a sand bank off Quiloa, and the Moors of
that place and of Monfia and Zanzibar slew them all except one man.
After Sequeira had dispatched the homeward bound trade of the season,
under the command of Fernan Perez de Andrada, he sailed on the 13th of
February 1520, from Goa with 24 sail of ships of various sizes, having
on board 1800 Portuguese soldiers, and about an equal number of Malabars
and Canarins, bound for the Red Sea. Off the coast of Aden his ship
struck on a rock and split in pieces; but the men were all saved, and
Sequeira the governor went into the galleon of Pedro de Faria. A Moorish
ship was taken at the entrance into the Red Sea, from which they learnt
that there were six Turkish gallies at Jiddah with 1200 men, intending
to proceed against Aden.. The weather prevented the Portuguese from
going in quest of the Turkish squadron, and in fact it would have been
to no purpose; as on hearing that the Portuguese were in these seas, the
Turks hauled their gallies on shore. While Sequeira was on his voyage
for Massua, a small black flag was seen on the disk of the sun towards
evening on the 9th of April being Easter Sunday. On arriving at Massua
they found all the inhabitants had fled, yet they found some vessels in
the port which they captured. The inhabitants of Massua had fled to the
neighbouring port of Arkiko in the dominions of Prester John, and
the governor of the town sent a messenger with a letter to Sequeira
desiring that he would make peace with the people who had fled to him
for protection; at the same time he asked nothing for the town where he
commanded, because they were all Christians, and because they had a
prophecy among them which foretold the coming of Christians to settle a
correspondence with them, and which he now believed to be fulfilled on
seeing the Christian colours. Sequeira sent a courteous answer, and drew
nearer the shore, on which several Christians came on board. They told
him that their prince had sent several years before an ambassador named
Mathew, to a king at the other end of the world whose fleet had
conquered India, on purpose to become acquainted with these remote
Christians and to demand succour against the Moors; but that the
ambassador had never returned. On hearing this, Sequeira was satisfied
that they dealt ingeniously with him, as he had actually brought that
ambassador along with him, and had orders from the king of Portugal to
land him safe in the dominions of Prester John. On this, the
ambassador of whom they spoke of was brought before them, to their great
mutual joy, as he had been ten years absent from his country.
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