At Length Antonio Boarded Husseyns Vessel, And Gave Him
Such A Cut Over The Head As Struck Him Down On The Deck, And By Another
Stroke Cut His Hamstrings So That He Could Not Rise.
The pirates wounded
Antonio in three places; but being succoured by his men the victory was
complete, almost 400 of the enemy being slain or drowned by leaping
overboard, while it cost 43 men on the side of Antonio, 8 of whom were
Portuguese.
Antonio immediately landed to bury his dead, and finding 96
men belonging to Husseyn in a house where they were left to be cured, he
set the house on fire, and destroyed them all. He here restored the
Portuguese ship to her owners, and gave liberty to all the slaves, as he
vowed on going upon this enterprise, paying their masters the value.
After all this generosity, the remaining booty was worth 100,000 crowns.
On the night after sailing from Tinlau so violent a storm arose that
two of the ships were cast away, and most of the goods in the others had
to be thrown overboard, to the value of 200,000 ducats. One hundred and
eleven men were lost, eleven of whom were Portuguese. Thirteen men who
escaped the shipwreck were carried prisoners to Nauday, where Faria
came with the five remaining ships to anchor. He immediately offered
3000 crowns to the governor of the city for the liberty of the
prisoners, and meeting with an unfavourable answer, he determined to
liberate them by force. His men were fearful of the issue of so
dangerous an enterprise; but he so encouraged them, that they agreed. He
had at this time, which was in the beginning of the year 1542, a force
of 470 men in all, 60 of whom were Portuguese. Of these he chose 300 men
to accompany him on shore. After sending another civil message to the
governor, who answered by hanging the messenger, he landed with his
small but resolute band. While marching towards the city, 12,000 foot
and 100 horse came out to meet him. His musqueteers killed at least 300
of them, and pursued the rest to a bridge which led into the city. The
governor was on the inside with 600 men, and defended the passage of the
bridge till he was slain by a musquet shot, immediately on which his men
fled, and were pursued with great slaughter till they ran out at the
opposite side of the city. The city was plundered, on which occasion he
who even got least was enriched, after which the place was reduced to
ashes. Having thus gloriously redeemed his prisoners, Antonio returned
to his ships with many beautiful female captives, having only lost eight
men, one of whom was a Portuguese.
Antonio now resumed his intended expedition for the mines, but in the
first place went to pass the winter at Pulo Hindor, an inhabited
island fifteen leagues from Nauday. When near the islands of
Commolem, he was attacked by two large ships in which were 200
resolute men commanded by a pirate named Premata Gundel, a mortal
enemy to the Portuguese, to whom he had done much harm, but thought now
he had only to encounter Chinese merchant ships.
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