Astonished To See All The Defences Thus Restored, And Angry At The
Obstinate Resistance Of So Small A Garrison, Zofar
Made a furious
assault upon the castle, but had his head carried off by a cannon-ball.
"In this violent
Death he fulfilled the prediction of his mother at
Otranto, who having in vain endeavoured to prevail upon him to return
into the bosom of the church, used to superscribe her letters to him in
the following manner. To Khojah Zofar my son, at the gates of hell."
He was succeeded by his son Rumi Khan, who inherited his fortune and
command, and was as eager as his father to reduce the castle of Diu.
Being in great straits, Mascarenhas was under the necessity of applying
to the governor-general at Goa and the commanders of the neighbouring
garrisons for reinforcements, on which occasion a priest was employed,
who run great danger, as the sea was at this season scarcely navigable:
But then Portugal had some decii and reguli, while it now has only
the grief of wanting such patriots[366].
[Footnote 366: It is hardly necessary to observe that this is the
expression of D. Faria in the seventeenth century, when Portugal
groaned under the yoke of the Austrian sovereigns of Spain. - E.]
In the mean time Rumi Khan and Juzar Khan gave a general assault,
particularly directing their efforts against the bastions of St John and
St Thomas, where they found a vigorous resistance and lost a prodigious
number of men. Yet numbers at length prevailed, and the enemy gained a
temporary possession of the bastion of St Thomas. The garrison adding
fury to despair, made so desperate an effort to recover the bastion,
that they made a wonderful slaughter of the numerous assailants who had
penetrated their works, throwing headlong from the wall such as had
escaped the sword, insomuch that the bastion and the ditch below were
heaped with dead bodies. Rumi Khan spent the succeeding night in prayers
and processions to propitiate Mahomet, and next morning renewed the
assault with equal fury. But after mounting the two bastions, he was at
length forced to retreat with the loss of near 2000 men, among whom was
Juzar Khan the Abyssinian general, who was succeeded in his command by
his uncle of the same name. In this action the Portuguese lost seven
men. Several other assaults were given with similar success. In one of
these the fire was so close and furious that several of the Portuguese
who were clad in cotton garments had their clothes set on fire, on which
they ran and dipt themselves in water, after which they returned to
their posts. Such as happened to have skin coats escaped this danger;
and as Mascarenhas noticed this circumstance, he caused the gilt
leather hangings of his apartments to be made into coats for his
soldiers.
As the enemy had raised a mount near the castle which overlooked the
walls, whence they greatly annoyed the enemy, Don Juan and Don Pedro de
Almeyda sallied out with an hundred men and destroyed that work, killing
300 Moors.
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