But, With Consent Of The King Of Cananor, Don
Enrique Sent Hector De Sylveira Against Them With Two Gallies And A
Brigantine, Who Destroyed Four Towns[176] And Took All Their Cannon,
Not Without Considerable Difficulty.
About the same time Christopher de
Brito went with fourteen row-boats and about an hundred men to scour the
coast of Canara, where he destroyed some of the Moors; but those of
Dabul sent two galliots and seven other vessels against him, with above
three hundred men.
In the commencement of the engagement Brito was
slain; but his people exerted themselves so valiantly to revenge the
death of their commander, that after four hours hard fighting most of
the Moors were slain, and their commander and all the rest taken. The
Moorish captain died afterwards of his wounds at Goa, being first
converted to the Christian faith.
[Footnote 176: Perhaps instead of towns we ought to read tonys, a
species of vessel then need by the inhabitants of the Malabar
coast. - E.]
The fort at Calicut was at this time much straitened by the Nayres, yet
the small garrison of fifty Portuguese maintained their post with much
honour. Don Enrique, to punish the hostilities of the Moors of Calicut,
fitted out fifty sail of vessels from Cochin, to which were added other
fifty belonging to the inhabitants of that city, twenty-seven of which
belonged to one individual named Arel de Porca[177]. With these vessels,
carrying 2000 soldiers, the governor arrived at Paniani, one of the
principal towns in the territory of Calicut, which was well fortified
and stored with cannon under the command of a Portuguese renegado.
Besides these fortifications on the land, the river was defended by a
number of armed vessels drawn up in order of battle.
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