The General Replied It
Was Very Proper Their Customs Should Be Observed, And Therefore He Desired
To Send This Present,
Which he could not make more valuable, for the
reasons already assigned; and if they would not suffer it to
Be carried to
the king, he should send it back to his ships. They answered he might do
so, for they would not consent to have such a present sent to the king.
The general, much displeased, said he would go speak with the king himself,
and would then return to the ships, meaning to have informed the king of
all that had passed in regard to the intended present. This they said was
very proper; but, as they would be detained long at court in attending him,
they were obliged in the mean time to go upon other business, and would
return to escort him to court, as the king would be angry if he went
without them, he being an entire stranger; and besides, he could not go in
safety unaccompanied, because of the great numbers of Moors who resided in
that city. Giving credit to their words, the general consented to this
arrangement, and said he would wait for their return, which he expected
would be without delay: But they did not return all that day, as they had
been gained over by the Moors to thwart the purposes of the general.
The Moors in Calicut had received information of the transactions of the
Portuguese at Quiloa, and of the taking of the _sambuco_ off Melinda; and
knowing that we were Christians, were very jealous of our arrival at
Calicut. Bontaybo had told the Moors that our purpose was not merely to
discover Calicut from curiosity, but that spices were in great estimation
in Portugal, which abounded in gold and silver, and to which all kinds of
merchandize was at present transported that went from Calicut by way of
the Red Sea; and finally, that the settlement of a direct trade by the
Portuguese with Calicut would tend greatly to the profit of the zamorin.
All this the Moors very well understood: But, considering that we were
Christians, they believed, if we should establish trade with Calicut,
that their own commodities would fall in price, and most of their profits
be destroyed. Wherefore they consulted together how to induce the zamorin
to take the general prisoner, to seize our ships, and to kill all our men;
that they might not return into Portugal with any intelligence concerning
Calicut. Upon this they associated themselves with some of those who were
in greatest credit with the zamorin, to whom they procured access, and
represented to him, That he ought not to be deceived by the Christians,
for the general was no ambassador as he pretended, but a pirate who went
about to rob and plunder whereever he came. They asserted having received
undoubted intelligence of this from their factors in Africa; where after
entering into a friendly correspondence with the _xeque_, who even
visited the general in his ship, gave him many presents, and provided him
with a pilot to bring him to Calicut, he had battered the town with his
ordnance, and killed several of his subjects.
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