Enraged At This Affront And The Late Repulse, The Enemy Made
That Same Night An Assault On The Fort Or Monastery Of St Francis With
5000 Men, Expecting To Surprise The Portuguese, But Were Soon Undeceived
By Losing Many Of Their Men.
This assault lasted with great fury for
five hours; and as the Portuguese suspected the enemy were undermining
the
Wall, and could not see by reason of the darkness, one Christopher
Curvo thrust himself several times out from a window, with a torch in
one hand and a buckler in the other to discover if possible what they
were doing. During this assault those in the town sent out assistance
to the garrison in the monastery, though with much hazard. When morning
broke and the assailants had retired, the monastery was all stuck full
of arrows, and the dead bodies of 300 Moors were seen around its walls,
while the defenders had not lost a single man. The enemy renewed the
assault on this post for five successive days, and were every time
repulsed by the Portuguese with vast slaughter, the garrison often
sallying out and strewing the field with slain enemies. It was at length
judged expedient to withdraw the men from this place into the town, lest
its loss might occasion greater injury than its defence could do
service. Seventeen of the Portuguese were here slain. One of these used
to stand on a high place to notice when the enemy fired their cannon,
and on one occasion said to the men below; "If these fellows should now
fire Raspadillo, a cannon 18 feet long to which that name was given,
it will send me to sup with Christ, to whom I commend my soul, for it
points directly at me." He had hardly spoken these words when he was
torn in pieces by a ball from that very gun. On getting possession of
the monastery of St Francis, the Moors fired a whole street in the town
of Chaul, but on attempting to take post in some houses, they were
driven out with the loss of 400 men. At this time Gonzalez de Camera
went to Goa for reinforcements, as the garrison was much pressed, and
brought a relief in two galleys.
About this period the 5000 men that had been detached by the Nizam to
ravage the district of Basseen attempted to get possession of some of
the Portuguese garrisons. Being beaten off at Azarim and Daman, they
invested Caranja, a small work between Chaul and Daman on the
water-side, and almost an island, as it is surrounded by several small
brooks. It was at this time commanded by Stephen Perestrello with a
garrison of only 40 men, but was reinforced on the reappearance of the
enemy by Emanuel de Melo with 30 more. With this small band of only 70
soldiers, Perestrello sallied out against the enemy, and with such
success, that after covering the little island with dead bodies, the
rest fled leaving their cannon, and a considerable quantity of
ammunition and provisions.
In the mean time the Moors continued to batter Chaul without
intermission for a whole month with 70 pieces of large cannon, every
day expending against its weak defences at least 160 balls. This
tremendous cannonade did much damage to the houses of the town, in which
many of the brave defenders were slain. On one occasion six persons who
were eating together were destroyed by a single ball. This furious
battery was commenced against the bastion of the holy cross, and was
carried on for a considerable way along the defences of that front of
the town, levelling every thing with the ground. The besieged used every
precaution to shelter themselves by digging trenches; but the hostile
gunners were so expert[379] that they elevated their guns and made their
balls plunge among those who considered themselves in safety. Observing
that one of the enemies batteries beyond the church of St Dominic never
ceased its destructive fire, Perestrello detached 120 men under
Alexander de Sousa and Augustino Nunnez, who drove the enemy after a
vigorous resistance from the battery with great slaughter, and set their
works on fire, and levelled them with the ground, without sustaining any
loss. Among the arms taken in this successful sortie was a cymeter
inscribed, Jesus save me.
[Footnote 379: To expert modern gunners it would be an easy matter so
discharge as many balls in one day, as were expended in this siege in
a whole month. De Faria mentions that an expedient was fallen upon by
which the danger from the plunging fire was avoided, but gives us no
intimation of its nature. - E.]
Having ruined the defences of the town, the enemy attacked several large
houses in which they endeavoured to establish themselves, but were
repulsed from some of these with considerable loss, while the defenders
lost but one man. On attacking the house of Hector de Sampayio, which
was undermined by the Portuguese with the intention of blowing it up
when occupied by the enemy, some fire accidentally communicated to the
mine during the conflict, and blew it up while still occupied by the
Portuguese, by which 42 of their soldiers were destroyed, and without
injury to the Moors, who planted their colours on the ruins. Ximiri Khan
made an assault by night with 600 men upon the bastion of the holy
cross, in which Ferdinand Pereyra was posted with 30 men, who was
reinforced by Henry de Betancourt with a few more. The assailants were
beaten off and five of their colours taken which they had planted on the
work. In this action Betancourt fought with his left hand, having
previously lost the right; and Dominic del Alama, being lame, caused
himself to be brought out in a chair. April 1571 was now begun, and the
enemy were employed in constructing new works as if determined to
continue the siege all winter. Alexander de Sousa and Gonzalo de Menezes
were appointed to head a sally upon these new works, but their men ran
out without orders to the number of 200, and made a furious assault upon
the enemy, whom they drove from the works after killing fifty of them
and losing a few of their own number.
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