After A Severe
Contest, The Fortifications Of Paniani Were Carried, And The Enemy Fled
Into The Woods.
The town and all the vessels in the fort were burnt.
Next day twelve ships were burnt in the port of Calicut, and several
more in some creeks near the town.
The armament proceeded in the next
place to Coulete, which was fortified in a similar manner to Paniani,
with a prodigious number of artillery, an hundred and fifty armed ships,
and a garrison of 20,000 men. The Portuguese proceeded to the attack,
and after a long and obstinate contest, drove the enemy from their works
with great slaughter, and took fifty-three vessels, most of which were
laden with pepper, with the loss of fifty-four Portuguese killed and
many wounded. The other vessels belonging to the enemy, being much
shattered in the engagement, were all burnt, and the town was destroyed.
[Footnote 177: These hundred vessels were probably paraos, or small
native craft, considering that they only carried 2000 soldiers, only at
the rate of 20 for each vessel - E.]
Shortly after this, the zamorin of Calicut besieged the Portuguese fort
at that place with an army of 12,000 men, and surrounded it with a broad
and deep trench. Don Juan de Lima commanded in the fort with 300 men,
and did every thing in his power to obstruct the besiegers in the
construction of their lines; but they were at length finished and
planted with a vast number of cannon, some of which were so large as to
carry balls of two spans diameter. On receiving advice of this siege,
Don Enrique sent a reinforcement of 150 men in two caravels commanded by
Christopher Jusarte and Duarte Fonseca. They succeeded in forcing their
way into the fort in spite of a violent opposition by sea and land.
Immediately afterwards, the enemy endeavoured to take the fort by
escalade, but were repulsed with great slaughter. A farther
reinforcement of 500 men from Cochin being unable to reach Calicut, Don
Enrique went there with all the naval force he could collect, being
unwilling that his government should suffer the disgrace of allowing
this fortress to be taken by the enemy. Having thrown some strong
reinforcements into the fort, Don Enrique landed with the remainder of
his troops, after clearing the shore of the enemy, by means of his guns
assisted by grenadoes and other fireworks. All the intrenchments and
redoubts of the besiegers were successively carried, with prodigious
slaughter of the Moors and Nayres, of whom above 3000 were slain,
besides many others burnt in their wooden forts and bulwarks. In this
engagement Don George de Menezes made great slaughter of the enemy with
a two-handed sword; till losing his right hand, he took a smaller sword
in his left, and continued to fight with great valour.
Don Enrique remained master of the field, in which he encamped for some
days: But as the fort was not considered important in proportion to its
expence, it was stripped of every thing of value with great care and
privacy, and mines and trains laid to blow it up; after which the whole
army retired to the ships. On seeing the fort evacuated, the Moors
rushed in to plunder in vast numbers; but the mines suddenly taking
fire, blew up the whole fabric with a vast explosion, in which great
numbers of the enemy perished miserably.
In the year 1526, Hector de Sylveira went with a squadron to the Red
Sea, and on his way thither assaulted and took the city of Dhofur on the
coast of Yemen in lat. 17 deg. N. He then entered the Red Sea, where he
reduced the islands of Massua and Dallac to pay tribute; after, this he
went to Arkiko on the coast of Abyssinia, where he received Don
Rodrigo de Lima who had been on an embassy to the king of Abyssinia, and
was there waiting for a passage along with an ambassador from Prester
John to the king of Portugal.
In this same year 1526, a small vessel was sent from Ternate to discover
the islands of Celebes, which were said to abound in gold. The
discoverer easily found the islands but no gold. Being on his return to
the Moluccas, he was carried away by a storm to the eastward till he
lost his reckoning, and unexpectedly fell in with a large and beautiful
island, inhabited by a simple race of men who treated the Portuguese
with much civility. They were strong made and of a comely appearance,
with their complexion inclining to fair, having long lank hair and long
beards, and their clothing was of fine mats. Their food consisted
chiefly of roots, cocoa nuts, and figs. Their language was not
understood, but by signs they gave the Portuguese to understand that
there was gold in the mountains, but of which they made no use. They had
no knowledge of iron or any other metal. Leaving this island, which they
named after the pilot Diego Lopez Sequeira, they returned to Ternate,
after an absence of eight months.
Don Enrique de Menezes, died at Cananor about the end of January 1526,
in the thirtieth year of his age. He was a man of large stature, with a
pleasing countenance, just in all his actions, continent, free from
covetousness, a true patron of merit, and of the most unblemished
honour. During his government he refused uniformly to accept any of the
numerous presents offered him by the eastern princes; and conducted
himself with such perfect integrity in every transaction, that at his
death his whole treasure amounted only to thirteen rials and a half; and
he had even expended the whole of his patrimonial estate during the
short continuance of his government of Portuguese India, chiefly in
rewarding the merits of his officers.
SECTION VII.
Continuation of the Portuguese Transactions in India, from 1526 to
1538.
At his death in January 1526, Don Enrique de Menezes left a paper sealed
up, by which the succession to him in the government was to be
regulated, in case the person nominated for that purpose by the king
should happen to be absent.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 87 of 217
Words from 87870 to 88906
of 221361
