And When He Objected That The Zamorin Might Punish
Him For Detaining The General Contrary To His Orders, They Engaged So To
Deal With The Zamorin As To Obtain His Pardon For That Offence.
Induced
by a large bribe, and encouraged by this promise, the kutwal followed De
Gama in such haste that he soon passed our men, who lagged behind on
account of the great heat.
On overtaking De Gama, he asked by signs why
he was in such haste, and where he was running to? The general answered
in the same manner, that he was running to avoid the heat. On coming to
Pandarane, as his men were not come up, the general declined going into
the town till they should arrive, and went into a house to get shelter
from the rain. The people did not get to the town till near sunset,
having lost their way; on which the general said if it had not been for
their absence he would have been by this time on board. The general
immediately desired the kutwal to order him to be furnished with an
almadia or pinnace, to carry him and his people on board; but the kutwal
said it was now late, and the ships so far away that he might miss them
in the dark, for which reason he had better stay till next day. The
general then said, if he were not immediately furnished with an almadia,
he would return to the king and complain that he was detained contrary to
his license, and even mentioned as if he meant to return immediately to
Calicut. To dissemble the more, the kutwal said he might have thirty
instead of one, if he needed them, and pretended to send out to procure
almadias, while at the same time he commanded the owners to hide
themselves that they might not be found.
In the mean time, while messengers were dispatched on pretence to seek
almadias, the general, having a strong suspicion that evil was intended
towards him, walked leisurely along the water side, and sent off Gonzales
Perez and two other mariners, to go on before and endeavour to find
Nicholas Coello with his boats, and to caution him to keep out of the way,
lest the kutwal might send off to seize his boats and men. While Perez
and the others were absent on this errand, it drew far into the night;
and not choosing to go off till he learnt what success Perez had met with,
he at length agreed to stay all night. Having placed De Gama in the house
of a Moor for the night, the kutwal pretended that he would go in search
of the three mariners who were absent; but he did not return till next
morning. The general then required to have an almadia to carry him and
his people on board. Before answering, the kutwal spoke some words to his
nayres in their own language, and then desired the general to give orders
to have the ships brought near the shore oh which he should have leave to
depart. On this the general became still more afraid that some treachery
was intended; yet answered boldly, that he would give no such order while
he remained on shore, as that would make his brother believe he was a
prisoner and had issued this order under restraint, on which he would
immediately depart for Portugal without him. The kutwal then threatened
stoutly that he should never be allowed to go off, unless he complied
with this demand. The general, in return, declared he should immediately
return to Calicut if not allowed to go on board, and make a complaint of
his conduct to the king. The kutwal even dared him to do this, yet took
care it should not be in his power, as he had ordered the doors to be
kept shut and guarded by armed nayres, to prevent any of the Portuguese
from going out. Yet it was the will of God that the kutwal dared not to
kill the general or any of his men, although the Moors had bribed him
with a great sum of money, and notwithstanding his great credit with the
zamorin. His anxiety to have the ships brought near the shore was, that
the Moors might be able to board them and kill all their people; and,
seeing it in this light, the general was equally determined to prevent
their nearer approach. Finding he could not prevail on the general to
command the ships to be brought near the shore, and having no pretence to
justify either keeping him prisoner or offering him any wrong, the kutwal
next endeavoured to persuade him to order the sails and rudders on shore;
at which the general only laughed, saying the king had given full
permission to go on board without any such conditions, and assured him
the king should be fully informed of all his unjust proceedings.
The general and his people now pretended to be in want of necessaries
from the ships, and requested leave to send some of his people on board,
while he should remain on shore; but this the kutwal refused, and our
people began to be seriously alarmed. At this time Gonzalo Perez returned,
supposing the general at liberty and that he waited for him and his
companions. Perez informed De Gama that he had seen Coello, who waited
for him with the boats near the shore. The admiral was exceedingly
anxious that the kutwal should not know of this circumstance, lest he
might send out a number of armed almadias to capture them; and therefore
urged Perez to return secretly to give Coello warning to return to the
ships and keep constantly on the alert for fear of an attack. When Coello
got this intelligence, he immediately set off, and the kutwal caused him
to be pursued by several almadias full of armed men, but he made his
escape. The kutwal made another attempt to induce the general to order
his brother to bring the ships near the shore, but in vain; for the
general told him, his brother, even if he were to write such an order,
would not obey, or, were he disposed to do so, the other officers in the
ship would prevent him.
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