He Sent Several Ceremonious
Messages To Albuquerque, On Purpose To Discover What Was Doing On Board
The Ships, And By The Threatening Answers He Received His Fears Were
Materially Augmented.
In consequence of this intercourse of messages,
Ismael was prevailed on to exchange some Portuguese, who had necessarily
been left behind when Goa was abandoned; for the Moors engaged in the
late conspiracy who remained prisoners with Albuquerque.
[Footnote 120: From the context it is obvious that this bay and the fort
of Pangi were in the close neighbourhood, of Goa; in fact the bay
appears to have been the channel leading to Goa, and the fort one of
those bulwarks on the continental shore which defended the navigation of
that channel. - E.]
About this time Albuquerque received intelligence that some vessels were
preparing at Goa to set his ships on fire, on which he anticipated the
intentions of the Moors by sending a force up the river to burn these
vessels, which was effected, but Don Antonio de Noronha was slain in
this enterprise; Noronha used to moderate the violent passions of his
uncle Albuquerque, who after his death allowed the severity of his
temper to proceed to extremities. Having detected a soldier in an amour
with one of the female slaves he used to call his daughters, and whom he
was accustomed to give away in marriage, he ordered him immediately to
be hanged; and as some of his officers demanded to know by what
authority he had done this arbitrary and cruel deed, he ordered them all
below deck, and flourishing his sword said that was his commission for
punishing all who were disobedient, and immediately cashiered them all.
During the continuance of this winter, the Portuguese fleet suffered
extreme hardships, especially from scarcity of provisions; and on
sailing from thence after the cessation of winter[121], they discovered
four sail which they supposed to have been Turks, or Mamelukes rather,
but on coming nearer, they were found to be a squadron from Portugal
under the command of Diego Mendez. Besides these, the king had sent out
this year other seven ships, under Sequeira, who arrived at Cananor soon
after Albuquerque; and a third armament of two ships to settle a trade
at Madagascar.
[Footnote 121: By winter on the coast of Malabar, must only be
understood, the period of storms and excessive bad weather which occurs
at the change of the monsoons, when it is imminently perilous to be at
sea. - E.]
On the return of Albuquerque from Goa to Cananor, he was much rejoiced
at the prospect of such powerful succours, and communicated his
intentions of immediately resuming his enterprise against Goa, but was
overruled in the council by Sequeira, on which Albuquerque went to
Cochin, and obtained a victory over the Malabars of Calicut, who
endeavoured to obstruct the Portuguese from loading pepper. Having
dispatched Sequeira with the homeward bound ships, and soon afterwards
Lemos with four more, he determined to resume the enterprise upon Goa.
As Diego Mendez, who had formerly been favourable to this design, and
several other captains, now opposed it, because it interfered with their
intentions of going to Malacca, as directed by the king, Albuquerque
commanded them all under the severest penalties not to quit the coast
without his orders. Though much dissatisfied, they were obliged to obey.
Accordingly, having fitted out twenty-three ships at Cananor, in which
he embarked with 1500 soldiers, he proceeded to Onor to join his ally
Timoja, whom he found busied in the celebration of his marriage with the
daughter of a queen; and being anxious to have the honour of the
viceroys presence at the wedding he invited him to land, which proved
very dangerous, as they were kept on shore for three days in consequence
of a storm, and when Albuquerque returned to the ships a boat with
thirty men was lost. On leaving Onor for Goa, Timoja sent three of his
ships along with Albuquerque, and promised to join him at Goa with 6000
men.
Albuquerque anchored for the second time before the bar of Goa on the
22d of November 1510. Impressed with a strong recollection of the
dangers he had escaped from on the former attempt, and anxious to sooth
the discontent which he well knew subsisted among some of his principal
officers on account of having been reluctantly compelled to engage in
this expedition, he addressed them in a conciliatory harangue by which
he won them over entirely to concur with him in bringing the hazardous
enterprise in which he was engaged to a favourable issue. Having made
the proper dispositions for the assault, the troops were landed at early
dawn on the 25th of November, and attacked the enemy who defended the
shore with such determined intrepidity that they were put to flight with
great slaughter, and without the loss of a man on the side of the
Portuguese. The enemy fled and endeavoured to get into the city by one
of the gates, and being closely pursued by the Portuguese who
endeavoured to enter along with them, the fight was there renewed, till
at length many of the Portuguese forced their way into the city doing
prodigious execution, and the battle was transferred to the streets.
These were successively cleared of the enemy by dint of hard fighting
all the way to the palace, in which time the Portuguese had lost five
officers of some note, and the fight was here renewed with much valour
on both sides. Albuquerque, who had exerted himself during the whole
action with equal courage and conduct, now came up with the reserve, and
the Moors were completely defeated, flying in all directions from the
city and endeavouring to escape to the continent, but through haste and
confusion many of them perished in the river. After this decisive
victory, it was found that of 9000 men who defended the city, 6000 had
perished, while the Portuguese lost fifty men. Medeorao[122], or
Melrao, nephew to the king of Onore, who commanded the three ships
sent by Timoja, behaved with great courage and fidelity on this
occasion; Timoja came himself to Goa with a reinforcement of 3000 men,
but too late to assist in the attack, and was only a witness to the
carnage which had taken place.
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