Soon Afterwards, The
Rajah Was Brought To The House, Carried In A Rich Chair Of State,
Preceded By Three Armed
Elephants, three thousand nayres, armed with
swords, spears, and targets, and two thousand armed with bows and arrows.
The admiral,
Apprized of the rajah's approach by the fleet saluting him
with all their guns, went to the door to receive him, where they embraced.
Then going together into the apartment, the admiral presented him with
the bed already described, on which the rajah immediately lay down, and
the admiral sat down beside him in the place appointed. They here
conferred together for two hours, when they were interrupted by the
barking of a greyhound belonging to the admiral, which wanted to attack
one of the elephants.
Soon afterwards a Moor from Calicut waited upon the admiral, having along
with him a Portuguese boy, who brought a letter from some of our men who
were captives at Calicut ever since the time of Cabral being there. This
boy informed the admiral, that the zamorin was so humbled by the defeats
he had sustained from Pacheco, that he had gone into religious seclusion.
That many of the Moorish merchants had gone from Calicut to other places,
as they could carry on no trade there owing to the war, and that even
provisions had become extremely scarce. That the zamorin and the prince
of Calicut, and the magistrates of that place, were exceedingly desirous
of peace with the Portuguese, for which reason they had sent him to the
admiral, and had allowed the Portuguese prisoners there to write him to
that effect, which they had done accordingly, but chiefly in hopes that
he would free them from captivity.
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