The Zamorin Was Much Displeased At The Successes Of Our People Against His
Confederates, And By The Loss Of Many Of His Paraws In These Several
Actions, And Was Even Afraid Lest The Portuguese Might Eventually
Dispossess Him Of His Dominions.
He used every exertion therefore to
prevent us from procuring pepper, being in hopes, if our ships were
constrained to return to Portugal without loading, that they would come no
more back to India.
He used his influence therefore even with the
merchants of Cochin to refuse supplying pepper to our ships, which they
did so effectually, under pretence of the war, that, in spite of the
influence of the rajah, and notwithstanding high offers of reward from
Francisco de Albuquerque, the factory had only been able to procure 1200
quintals or 4000 bahars[9] of pepper; and even that was got with hard
fighting, some hurt to our own men, and infinite loss of lives to the
enemy. Unable to procure any more pepper in Cochin, Alonso de Albuquerque
went to Coulan in search of that commodity, accompanied by Pedro de Tayde
and Antonio del Campo, knowing that the government of that state was
desirous of having one of our factories established in their city, and had
solicited both Pedro Alvares Cabral and the lord admiral De Gama to that
effect; and Alonso was determined to go to war with the people of Coulan
unless they gave him loading for his ships.
Coulan is twelve leagues from Cochin, and twenty-four from Cape Comorin.
Before the building of Calicut, Coulan was the principal city of Malabar,
and the port of greatest trade on that coast.
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