But The
Treacherous Paymaster Kept Them Waiting Till After Day-Light, By Which
Means The Prince Was Left With Very Few Troops To Defend The Ford.
Taking
advantage of this concerted stratagem, the zamorin made an assault upon
the ford with his whole force by
Sea and land, and constrained Naramuhin
to retire with his small band into a grove of palm trees, where he was
surrounded by the whole army of Calicut, yet fought the whole day against
such terrible odds with the utmost resolution, several times throwing his
enemies into disorder, of whom many were slain. But at length,
overpowered by numbers, he and two of his cousins who fought along with
him were slain, together with most of his faithful followers.
When this melancholy event was announced to the rajah of Cochin, he
fainted from extreme grief, and was for some time thought to have
actually expired. At this time, the naires were much exasperated against
our men, to whom they attributed the overthrow and death of prince
Naramuhin, and the desperate situation of their country, and seemed much
inclined to have put the Portuguese to death, or to have delivered them
up to the zamorin. On the recovery of the rajah, and learning the designs
of his people against our men, he called the Portuguese into his presence;
he gave them assurance that even this reverse of his affairs should not
alter his resolution of protecting them, both against the zamorin and his
own subjects. He then addressed his assembled naires, urging them not to
stain his honour and their own by injuring the Portuguese, whom he and
they had sworn to protect. He exhorted them to persevere honourably and
bravely in defending their country and preserving their honour inviolate
to the Christians, and comforted them with the assurance that the
Portuguese fleet would soon arrive with sufficient reinforcements to
drive out the zamorin and to restore him to his dominions. In the
meantime, he proposed that they should retire with what force remained,
into the isle of Vaipi, which was of difficult access; and where they
could defend themselves till the arrival of the Portuguese fleet, more
especially as the winter was at hand, which would stop the progress of
the war for some time. The naires were astonished at the resolution of
their sovereign, and promised faithfully to obey his commands in all
things.
The zamorin made a new attempt to shake the resolution of the rajah in
his present adversity, by offering peace on condition of delivering up
the Portuguese and their goods; which the rajah rejected with disdain as
he had done all his former overtures. On this the zamorin gave orders to
destroy the whole country with fire and sword, on which intelligence most
of the inhabitants of Cochin withdrew to other places. There were at this
time in Cochin two Milanese lapidaries belonging to the factory, named
John Maria and Pedro Antonio, who had been brought to India by Vasco de
Gama.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 369 of 427
Words from 193695 to 194196
of 224388
