Its Breadth Varies From 55 To 240
Miles, Averaging About 100; But It Is Extremely Irregular, Owing To Many
Deep Bays And Considerable Peninsulae.
Jedo is now the capital and
residence of the temporal sovereign, Meaco of the once spiritual
sovereign, now reduced to chief priest of the national religion.
- E.]
[Footnote 362: The only islands of magnitude besides Niphon, are
Kiusiu, which does not appear to have any representative in the text,
and Sicocf, probably the Cikoko of De Faria. The other numerous
islands are of little importance, and several of the names in the text
cannot be referred to any of the islands. Firando and Taquixima
remain unchanged, and the others cannot be traced. - E.]
The first action of the new governor De Sousa was to diminish the pay of
the soldiers. The saving of charges is a great means of gaining the
favour of princes; yet ministers never express their zeal by
retrenching their own large allowances, but by cutting off the small
ones from the poor; and, as was natural, this alteration occasioned much
discontent among the troops. At this time the queen of Batecala, a
well-built city on the banks of a river, on the coast of Canara, in a
fertile country, refused to pay her tribute, and entertained pirates in
her port to the great prejudice of trade; on which account De Sousa
went with 2000 men in 60 vessels of different kinds to reduce her to
obedience. On entering the port of Batecala where he demanded payment of
the tribute, and that the pirate ships should be delivered up, the queen
endeavoured to procrastinate till such time as she knew it would be
necessary for the governor to retire with his armament to Cochin. But
being aware of this artifice, the governor landed with 1200 men in two
battalions, and ordered twenty light vessels to go up the river to
attack the city on that side, while he assailed it on the land side.
While marching through a wood, the governor was opposed by a body of
musqueteers; but his troops drove them to the gates of the city, which
they entered along with the fugitives, in spite of every opposition from
the enemy who were encouraged by the queen in person. It was night when
the Portuguese got possession of the city; and in the morning they began
to plunder, not even sparing the Portuguese who were settled there. They
even fell out among themselves, and came to blows, in which all were
hurt and none enriched. The enemy noticed this contention among the
Portuguese from a neighbouring hill to which they had retired, and
endeavoured to take advantage of this circumstance, by discharging
incessant flights of arrows into the town. On receiving orders from De
Sousa to march against the enemy, the discontented troops exclaimed,
"That the rich gentry might march if they would; but that they only came
to make up by plunder for the pay of which they had been unjustly
deprived." Gracia de Sa went out against the enemy with a few lances;
but after several charges, almost the whole of the Portuguese shamefully
took to flight, endeavouring in such haste to reimbark that several were
drowned in the confusion.
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