Four Thousand Of These Were Appointed To Serve By Water, In 280 Vessels, Called _Paraws_, _Katurs_, And _Tonys_; With 382

Pieces of cannon intended to batter the Portuguese fort at Cochin; and the rest of the troops were appointed to

Force a passage across the ford of the river, under the command of Naubea Daring, nephew and heir to the zamorin, and Elankol, the lord of Repelim[1].

Intelligence of all this was conveyed to Cochin, and that the zamorin proposed to invade that city by the straits of Cambalan. Rodrigo Reynel, who sent this intelligence by letter, lay then very sick and died soon after, on which the zamorin caused all his goods to be seized. On the approach of the zamorin, the Moors of Cochin would very willingly have induced the inhabitants to run away, but durst not venture to do so from the fear they were in of Pacheco. He, on the contrary, that all might know how little he esteemed the zamorin and all his power, made a descent one night on one of the towns of Repelim, to which he set fire. But on the coming up of a great number of armed naires, he was forced to retreat in great danger to his boats, having five of his men wounded, after killing and wounding a great number of the enemy. On their return to Cochin, the targets of our men were all stuck full of arrows, so great was the multitude of the enemies who had assailed them. The rajah came to visit Pacheco at the castle on his return from this enterprize, and expressed his satisfaction at his success, which he considered as a mighty affair, especially as the zamorin and so great an army was in the island. Pacheco made light of the zamorin and all his force, saying that he anxiously wished he would come and give battle, as he was not at all afraid of the consequences, trusting to the superior valour of his own men.

As the people of Cochin remained quiet, Pacheco now prepared for defending the pass of Cambalan. Leaving therefore a sufficient force to guard the castle, and twenty-five men in the caravel under the command of Diego Pereira to protect the city and watch the conduct of the Moors, taking with himself seventy-three men in one of the caravels and several armed boats, he departed for Cambalan on Friday the 16th of April 1504[2]. On passing the city, Pacheco landed to speak with the rajah, whom he found in evident anxiety; but making as if he did not observe his heaviness, Pacheco addressed him with a cheerful countenance, saying that he was just setting out to defend him against the zamorin, of whom he had no fear of giving a good account. After some conference, the rajah ordered 500 of his naires, out of 3000 who were in his service, to join Pacheco, under the command of _Gandagora_ and _Frangera_ the overseers of his household, and the caymal of _Palurta_, whom he directed to obey Pacheco in all things as if he were himself present. On taking leave of Pacheco, while he exhorted him to use his utmost efforts for defending Cochin against the zamorin, he desired him to be careful of his own safety, on which so much depended.

Pacheco arrived at the passage of Cambalan two hours before day, and seeing no appearance of the zamorins approach, he made an attack on a town on the coast of the island about the dawn, which was defended by 300 naires, all archers, and a small number armed with calivers, or match-locks, all of whom were embarked in certain paraws, and endeavoured to defend the entrance of the harbour. They were soon constrained by the cannon of the Portuguese to push for the shore and quit their paraws, but resisted all attempts of the Portuguese to land for near an hour, when they were completely defeated after losing a great many of their number, killed or wounded, and our men set the town on fire. Having taken a considerable number of cattle at this place, which he carried off with him, Pacheco returned to defend the pass of Cambalan. At this time the zamorin sent a message to Pacheco, offering him a handsome present, and proposing a treaty for a peace between them: but Pacheco refused accepting the present, and declared he would never make peace with him while he continued at enmity with the rajah of Cochin. Next day, the zamorin sent a second message, proudly challenging him for daring to obstruct his passage into the island of Cochin, and offering him battle, declaring his resolution to make him a prisoner, if he were not slain in the battle. To this Pacheco made answer, that he hoped to do the same thing with the zamorin, in honour of the day which was a solemn festival among the Christians, and that the zamorin was much deceived by his sorcerers when they promised him the victory on such a day. Then one of the naires who accompanied the messenger, said smiling as if in contempt, that he had few men to perform so great an exploit; whereas the forces of the zamorin covered both the land and the water, and could not possibly be overcome by such a handful. Pacheco ordered this man to be well bastinadoed for his insolence, and bid him desire the zamorin to revenge his quarrel if he could.

That same evening, the rajah of Cochin sent a farther reinforcement to Pacheco of 500 naires, of whom he made no account, neither of these who were with him before, believing they would all run away; his sole reliance, under God, was on his own men, who feasted themselves that night, that the zamorin might learn how much they despised all his threats, and how eager they were for battle. Early next morning, Pacheco made a short speech to his men, exhorting them, to behave valiantly for the glory of the Christian name and the honour of their country, and promising them an assured victory with the assistance of God; by which their fame would be so established among the natives that they would be feared and respected ever after.

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