In This War, Two Great And Wonderful Events
Took Place:
The _first_, that all the chiefs and kings of these islands
united against us, who used ever to be at variance among themselves; and
_secondly_, that Galvano, with only the ordinary garrison, should obtain
the victory against so great a combination.
It has happened to other
governors of the Moluccas, with an extraordinary number of European
troops, and assisted by all the other native lords, to go to war with one
king only, and to come back with loss; whereas he, with a small and
inadequate force, successfully waged war against a confederacy of all the
lords of these islands.
"Three brilliant exploits have been performed in India, beyond all others.
The capture of Muar by Emanuel Falcon; the winning of Bitam by Peter
Mascarenas; and this victory obtained by Galvano. Besides this great
exploit, his father and four brothers were all slain in the kings service;
and he, being the last of his lineage, carried with him about 10,000
crusadoes into the Moluccas, all of which he expended in propagating our
holy faith, and in preserving these valuable islands, using all his power
and influence to bring all the cloves into the kings coffers, by which he
added 500,000 crusadoes yearly to the royal revenue. Had he gathered
cloves on his own account, as other governors of the Moluccas have done,
he might have come home very rich; but returning poor, and, in the
simplicity of his nature, expecting to be rewarded for his honest
services, he was entirely neglected, and had to take refuge in an
hospital, where he remained seventeen years, till his death, when he was
2000 crusadoes in debt; partly for demands upon him from India, and
partly borrowed from his friends to maintain him in the hospital.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 32 of 812
Words from 8697 to 9001
of 224388
