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.
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