The Hottest Of The Battle
Was About Gaining And Defending The Bridge, Which Enterprise Albuquerque
Undertook In Person, And Where The Enemy After A Vigorous Defence, In
Which Great Numbers Of Them Were Slain, Were Forced To Leap Into The
River, Where Many Of Them Were Drowned.
The prince and the king of
Pahang bravely opposed another party of the Portuguese who endeavoured
to force their
Way to the bridge to join the viceroy, and at the same
time King Mahomet came out on a large elephant, attended by two others
having castles on their backs, whence numbers of darts were launched
against the Portuguese. But the elephants being soon severely wounded,
turned and fled through among their own men, trampling many of them to
death and making way for the Portuguese to join those who had possession
of the bridge. At this place Albuquerque fortified himself, and as
considerable harm was done to his men by poisoned arrows discharged from
the tops of the adjoining houses, he caused them to be set on fire.
After bestowing great praises on his captains for their courageous
behaviour, and perceiving that his people began to grow faint by long
exertions, excessive heat, and want of food, he withdrew to the ships
towards night. Ten of the Portuguese died in consequence of their wounds
from the poisoned arrows. The loss of the enemy was not known. The king
of Pahang withdrew to his own country, under pretence of bringing a
reinforcement, but never returned.
While Albuquerque rested and refreshed his men on board, Mahomet was
busily employed in making every possible preparation for defending the
city. For this purpose he undermined the streets in several places, in
hopes to blow up the assailants, and strewed poisoned thorns in the way,
covering them over to prevent their being observed. He likewise
fortified the bridge, and planted cannon in many places. As a prelude
to the second assault, Albuquerque sent Antonio de Abren in a vessel
well manned to gain possession of the bridge. On his way thither he had
to pass through showers of bullets from both sides of the river and from
the battlements of the bridge, and though desperately wounded, refused
to be brought off, when Deniz Fernandez Melo, who came up to his rescue
proposed sending him to the ships to have his wounds dressed, saying,
"Though he neither had strength to fight nor voice to command, he would
not quit his post while life remained." Floats of wildfire were sent
down the river to burn the vessel; but at length Albuquerque in person
gained possession of the bridge, and the vessel being freed from the
fire rafts, had liberty to act against the enemy. Having rested his men
a short time on the bridge, Albuquerque penetrated the city, through
showers of bullets, darts, and arrows; and having been apprised of the
mines in the principal street, he took, another way and gained the
mosque. At length, after a prodigious slaughter of the enemy, he gained
entire possession of the city, having only with him in this action 800
Portuguese and 200 Malabars.
At the end of nine days every one of the Moors who inhabited this great
city were either slain or driven out, and it was repeopled with
strangers and some Malays, who were permitted to take possession of the
vacant houses. Among these last was Utimuti rajah, whose son had
formerly endeavoured to assassinate Sequeira. Utimuti was a rich and
powerful native of Java, of whom more hereafter. The soldiers were
allowed to plunder the city during three days. There were found 3000
pieces of great cannon, out of 8000[128] which King Mahomet had relied
upon for the defence of his city, the rest having been carried off to
Bintang, where the king and prince Al'oddin had fortified themselves.
As it might have been of dangerous consequence to permit these princes
to establish themselves so near the city of Malacca, Albuquerque sent a
force to dislodge them, consisting of 400 Portuguese, 400 Malays
belonging to Utimuti, and 300 men belonging to the merchants of Pegu who
resided in Malacca. On the approach of these troops, the king and prince
took flight, leaving seven elephants with all their costly trappings,
and the Portuguese returned to Malacca. Now reduced to wander in the
woods and mountains of the interior, Mahomet so severely reflected upon
the obstinacy of his son and the king of Pahang, that he and his son
quarrelled and separated, each shifting for himself.
[Footnote 128: This prodigious train of artillery is quite incredible,
though, twice repeated in the same terms, but it is impossible to form
any rational conjecture for correcting the gross error or exaggeration
in the text. - E.]
To secure this important conquest, Albuquerque built a fort or citadel
at Malacca, which from its beauty was called Hermosa. He likewise
built a church, which was dedicated to the Visitation of our Lady; and
coined money of different values and denominations, which was ordered to
pass current by proclamation, and some of which he caused to be
scattered among the populace. By these and other prudent measures he
gained the hearts of the people, attracted strangers to settle in
Malacca, and secured this important emporium of trade. Although
Albuquerque was perfectly conscious of the deceitful character of
Utimuti rajah, yet considering it to be sometimes prudent to trust an
enemy under proper precautions, he gave him authority over all the Moors
that remained in Malacca. It was soon discovered however, that Utimuti
carried on a private correspondence with Prince Al'oddin, under pretence
of restoring him to the sovereignty of Malacca, but in reality for the
purpose of using his remaining influence among the people to set himself
up. On receiving authentic information of these underhand practices,
Albuquerque caused Utimuti with his son and son-in-law to be
apprehended, and on conviction of their treason, he ordered them to be
publicly executed on the same scaffold which they had formerly destined
for Sequeira.
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