He Was Then To
Proceed For Sofala, Where, If A Factory Were Settled He Was To Deliver
The Goods Destined For That Place Before Going To India.
If a factory
were not already settled there, he was to do every thing in his power for
that purpose, leaving Alvaro de Braga there as factor, with the
merchandize embarked in the caravel for that market.
From Sofala, he was
to proceed to Quiloa; and thence directly to Calicut. He was farther
directed, in case of meeting with Cabral, to obey him as general, and
desire him to settle a factory at Sofala, if his own attempt should fail.
Nueva left Lisbon on this voyage in March, four months before the return
of Cabral, and arrived in safety at the isle of St Blas; where he found a
letter in an old shoe suspended from the branch of a tree, written by
Pedro de Tayde[3], informing him that the fleet of Cabral had passed this
island on its way back to Portugal, and giving an account of what had
happened at Calicut, of the good treatment the fleet had received at
Cochin, where some of our men remained, and of the friendly disposition
of the king of Cananor[4]. On consulting with the other captains, it was
judged improper to leave the caravel at Sofala, in these circumstances,
as their whole force did not exceed eighty men; wherefore they proceeded
directly for Quiloa, where they found one of the exiles who had been left
there by Cabral, from whom they received a particular account of all that
had happened at Calicut, and of the loss of several of his ships, all of
which he had learnt from some Moors. From Quiloa Nueva sailed on to
Melinda, where the king confirmed the intelligence he had received from
the exile at Quiloa[5]. Thus fully instructed in the state of matters,
Nueva deemed it prudent to keep all the ships of his small squadron, and
sailed across from Melinda to Anchediva, where he came to anchor in
November, intending to take in a supply of water at that place. While
here, seven large ships belonging to Cambaya, which were bound for the
Red Sea, appeared off the anchoring ground, and seemed at first disposed
to attack our ships; but being afraid of the Portuguese ordnance, they
continued their voyage. From Anchediva Nueva proceeded for Cananor, where
he had an audience of the rajah, from whom he received particular notice
of all that had happened in Calicut to Cabral, and of the offer which the
rajah had made to load all his ships at Cananor. The rajah assured him of
his earnest desire of doing every thing in his power to serve the king of
Portugal, and pressed him to take in his loading at that port; but Nueva
declined this offer for the present, until he had consulted with the
factor at Cochin, for which port he took his departure from Cananor. On
his way between Cananor and Cochin, Nueva took a ship belonging to some
of the Moorish merchants at Calicut, after a vigorous resistance, and set
it on fire.
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