A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II - Robert Kerr
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On the next day, being the last of May, the kutwal sent a horse to the
general to carry him to Pandarane; but having no furniture, he requested
to be supplied with an _andor_, which was sent accordingly, when De Gama
immediately set out for Pandarane, all his people accompanying him on
foot. The kutwal remained at Calicut, but a considerable number of nayres
escorted the general on his way. When the Moors learnt that the general
was gone to the ships, they went together to the kutwal, making large
offers of money to him, if he would pursue the general, and detain him a
prisoner under some feigned pretence; when they would take some
opportunity of having him slain, in such way that the blame should not
attach to the kutwal. And when he objected that the zamorin might punish
him for detaining the general contrary to his orders, they engaged so to
deal with the zamorin as to obtain his pardon for that offence. Induced
by a large bribe, and encouraged by this promise, the kutwal followed De
Gama in such haste that he soon passed our men, who lagged behind on
account of the great heat. On overtaking De Gama, he asked by signs why
he was in such haste, and where he was running to? The general answered
in the same manner, that he was running to avoid the heat. On coming to
Pandarane, as his men were not come up, the general declined going into
the town till they should arrive, and went into a house to get shelter
from the rain. The people did not get to the town till near sunset,
having lost their way; on which the general said if it had not been for
their absence he would have been by this time on board. The general
immediately desired the kutwal to order him to be furnished with an
almadia or pinnace, to carry him and his people on board; but the kutwal
said it was now late, and the ships so far away that he might miss them
in the dark, for which reason he had better stay till next day. The
general then said, if he were not immediately furnished with an almadia,
he would return to the king and complain that he was detained contrary to
his license, and even mentioned as if he meant to return immediately to
Calicut. To dissemble the more, the kutwal said he might have thirty
instead of one, if he needed them, and pretended to send out to procure
almadias, while at the same time he commanded the owners to hide
themselves that they might not be found.
In the mean time, while messengers were dispatched on pretence to seek
almadias, the general, having a strong suspicion that evil was intended
towards him, walked leisurely along the water side, and sent off Gonzales
Perez and two other mariners, to go on before and endeavour to find
Nicholas Coello with his boats, and to caution him to keep out of the way,
lest the kutwal might send off to seize his boats and men. While Perez
and the others were absent on this errand, it drew far into the night;
and not choosing to go off till he learnt what success Perez had met with,
he at length agreed to stay all night. Having placed De Gama in the house
of a Moor for the night, the kutwal pretended that he would go in search
of the three mariners who were absent; but he did not return till next
morning. The general then required to have an almadia to carry him and
his people on board. Before answering, the kutwal spoke some words to his
nayres in their own language, and then desired the general to give orders
to have the ships brought near the shore oh which he should have leave to
depart. On this the general became still more afraid that some treachery
was intended; yet answered boldly, that he would give no such order while
he remained on shore, as that would make his brother believe he was a
prisoner and had issued this order under restraint, on which he would
immediately depart for Portugal without him. The kutwal then threatened
stoutly that he should never be allowed to go off, unless he complied
with this demand. The general, in return, declared he should immediately
return to Calicut if not allowed to go on board, and make a complaint of
his conduct to the king. The kutwal even dared him to do this, yet took
care it should not be in his power, as he had ordered the doors to be
kept shut and guarded by armed nayres, to prevent any of the Portuguese
from going out. Yet it was the will of God that the kutwal dared not to
kill the general or any of his men, although the Moors had bribed him
with a great sum of money, and notwithstanding his great credit with the
zamorin. His anxiety to have the ships brought near the shore was, that
the Moors might be able to board them and kill all their people; and,
seeing it in this light, the general was equally determined to prevent
their nearer approach. Finding he could not prevail on the general to
command the ships to be brought near the shore, and having no pretence to
justify either keeping him prisoner or offering him any wrong, the kutwal
next endeavoured to persuade him to order the sails and rudders on shore;
at which the general only laughed, saying the king had given full
permission to go on board without any such conditions, and assured him
the king should be fully informed of all his unjust proceedings.
The general and his people now pretended to be in want of necessaries
from the ships, and requested leave to send some of his people on board,
while he should remain on shore; but this the kutwal refused, and our
people began to be seriously alarmed. At this time Gonzalo Perez returned,
supposing the general at liberty and that he waited for him and his
companions. Perez informed De Gama that he had seen Coello, who waited
for him with the boats near the shore. The admiral was exceedingly
anxious that the kutwal should not know of this circumstance, lest he
might send out a number of armed almadias to capture them; and therefore
urged Perez to return secretly to give Coello warning to return to the
ships and keep constantly on the alert for fear of an attack. When Coello
got this intelligence, he immediately set off, and the kutwal caused him
to be pursued by several almadias full of armed men, but he made his
escape. The kutwal made another attempt to induce the general to order
his brother to bring the ships near the shore, but in vain; for the
general told him, his brother, even if he were to write such an order,
would not obey, or, were he disposed to do so, the other officers in the
ship would prevent him. The kutwal observed that he could not give credit
to this, as he was sure any thing he commanded would be obeyed. But no
arguments could prevail on the general to this measure, which he was
satisfied was meant for facilitating the destruction of the fleet to
gratify the Moors.
The whole of this day was spent in this manner, and in the night our
people were confined in a large paved yard surrounded with walls, and
under even a stronger guard than attended them during the day; and even
the general began to fear as well as the men, that they would be
separated from one another. Yet he trusted, when the zamorin should come
to know the usage they had received, he would give orders for their
release. That night, the kutwal came to sup with the general and sent a
supply of fowls and rice. Finding that he could not prevail over the
constancy of De Gama, he determined at last to set him at liberty. Next
day, therefore, being Saturday the second of June, he desired the general,
since he had promised to the king to bring his merchandize on shore, that
he ought to do so; as it was the usage of all merchants who came to
Calicut to land their goods and crews, and not to return to their ships
till all was sold; and he promised, when this was done, to give him free
liberty to depart. Although the general gave very little credit to his
fair words, he yet said, if the kutwal would provide almadias for the
purpose, he would order his goods on shore; but was certain his brother
would not allow the boats to leave the ships while he was detained on
shore. The kutwal was now content to get the goods into his power, as he
understood from the general they were of great value, and allowed the
general to send off a message to his brother. He therefore sent off a
letter by two of his men, in which he gave his brother an account of his
situation, confined to his lodging but otherwise well used, and desiring
him to send some of the merchandize on shore to satisfy the kutwal; but,
directing him, in case he was much longer detained, to believe that he
was kept prisoner by order of the zamorin; whose only object was to get
the Portuguese ships into his power, not having time to arm his own ships
for that purpose. For this reason, if not set at liberty immediately
after the goods were landed, he required his brother to return without
delay to Portugal, and inform the king of all that had happened; that the
trade of so fine a country might not be lost to his country. And farther,
to inform the king in what state he remained, trusting that his royal
master would send such an armament as would enforce his restoration to
liberty.
On receiving this letter, and a circumstantial relation from the
messenger of all that had happened on shore, Paulo de Gama immediately
sent the goods; but said in answer to the general, that he could not
answer to his honour to return to Portugal without him, and he trusted
God would enable the small force he had still in the fleet, with the aid
of his ordnance, to compel the kutwal to liberate him. On the merchandize
being landed, the general delivered it over into the custody of Diego
Diaz as factor, with Alvora de Braga as his clerk, whom he left in a
house provided for them by the kutwal; after which he went on board the
ships. He then refused to send any more goods on shore, till those
already there were sold and paid for, and determined not to run himself
again into danger by venturing on shore after what had already past. At
this the Moors were grievously vexed, as they thought it more easy for
them to have destroyed him on land than on board the ships. On purpose to
entice him to land once more, the Moors made a mock of his goods,
pretending they were good for nothing, and did all in their power to
prevent them from selling. Thinking that the zamorin knew nothing of all
these transactions, he sent him an account of the whole five days
afterwards, by his factor, of all that had happened, and of the injurious
conduct of the Moors respecting the sale of the goods. The king seemed
much offended by these proceedings, sending the general word that he
would punish all those who had used him ill, yet the kutwal remained
unpunished. The king likewise sent seven or eight merchants of Guzerate,
who were idolaters, to buy the goods, accompanied by an honest nayre, to
remain with Diaz at the factory to defend him against the Moors. Yet all
this was only done colourably, that the Moors might not appear to suborn
the merchants; for these men bought nothing, and even beat down the price
of the commodities, to the great satisfaction of the Moors; who now
boasted that no person would buy our goods any more than they. Yet none
of the Moors durst venture to our factory, after they heard a nayre was
stationed there by the kings order. If they did not love us before, they
hated us ten times worse now, and when any of our men landed, they used
to spit on the ground in contempt, calling out Portugal! Portugal! But by
the especial order of the general, our people took no other notice than
merely laughing at their insolence.
As none of the merchants would buy our goods, the general supposed that
this was occasioned by their being lodged at Pandarane, where none of the
merchants of Calicut resided; and requested leave, by a messenger, from
the zamorin, to have the goods removed to the city. This permission was
immediately granted, and the king issued orders to the kutwal to see them
removed, and even to pay the persons who carried them, that nothing
belonging to the king of Portugal might be subject to any charges in his
country. The general would not trust himself any more on shore, although
Bontaybo, who frequently came off to visit him, advised him to wait on
the king, lest the great credit of the Moors might again prevail over his
mind. But considering this man as a Moor, the general never put much
trust in him, nor informed him of his intentions; yet always received him
kindly, and gave him money and other gifts, that he might bring him
intelligence of what was passing on shore.
After the Portuguese merchandize was removed to Calicut, the general
permitted one man daily from each of the ships to go on shore, to see the
city and to purchase any thing they had a mind for; always taking
especial care that one party returned on board before another landed. Our
people were courteously received and entertained by the natives, and were
even lodged in their houses occasionally. They bartered several things on
shore, such as bracelets of brass and copper, pewter, and other European
articles, for the productions of the country, as freely and quietly as if
they had been in Lisbon. Fishermen, and others of the idolaters came off
to the ships, selling fish, cocoa-nuts, and poultry, for biscuit or money;
while others came off with their children, merely to have a sight of our
ships. On all these occasions, the general commanded them to be well
treated and to have food given them, to conciliate the people and to
secure the friendship of the zamorin. This continued till the tenth of
August, during which time the ships had always some of the natives on
board.
Seeing the quietness of the people, and their familiarity with his men,
who never met with any injury from the Moors or nayres, the general
believed the zamorin was willing to preserve friendship and peace with
the subjects of Portugal, and determined upon establishing a factory in
Calicut for the sale of his commodities, although very little of what was
landed had as yet been sold. By this means, he hoped to lay a sure
foundation for the establishment of trade, against the next expedition
which the king his master might send, if GOD pleased to send him home
with the intelligence of the discovery. Accordingly, with the advice and
concurrence of the captains and other principal officers of the fleet, he
sent a present by Diego Diaz to the zamorin, consisting of scarfs of
different colours, silks, corals, and various other articles. Diaz was
desired to say to the king, that the general begged his highness to
excuse his presumption in sending such a present in token of his entire
devotion to his service, having nothing worthy of the acceptance of so
great a prince. That the time now drew near when it would be necessary to
depart on his return to Portugal; and therefore, if his highness meant to
send an ambassador to the king of Portugal, he had better give orders
that he might soon be ready to embark. Presuming upon what his highness
had already agreed to, and on the kindness hitherto shewn to him and his
people by his highness, he requested permission to leave a factor and
clerk in Calicut along with his merchandize, as a memorial of peace and
amity between his highness and the king of Portugal, as a testimony of
the truth of the embassy with which he had been entrusted, and in pledge
of farther embassy from the king his master as soon as the discovery was
made known. He likewise prayed his highness to send on board as a full
confirmation of his having actually made the voyage to India, a _bahar_
of cinnamon, another of cloves, and a third of some other spices, which
should be paid for by the factor out of the first sales of the goods in
his possession. It was four days after Diaz received this order before he
could get access to the zamorin, though he went every day to the palace
for this purpose. At length he was admitted to audience; and on seeing
Diaz with his present, the king asked him what he wanted in so stern a
manner that he was afraid of being killed. After delivering the message
from the general and wishing to deliver the present, the king refused to
see it, and commanded that it should be delivered to his factor. The
answer he gave to the message was, that since the general wished to
depart he might do so, but must first pay him 600 _serasynes_[63],
according to the custom of the country.
Diaz, on his return to the factory with the present intended for the king,
was accompanied by many of the nayres, which he thought was from respect:
but immediately on entering the house, the nayres remained at the door,
forbidding him or any other person to go out. After this, a proclamation
was made through the city, forbidding any boat or almadia to go on board
our fleet on pain of death. Yet Bontaybo went off secretly, and gave
warning to the general not to venture on shore or to permit any of the
people to land; as he had learned from the Moors, that any who might do
so would surely lose their lives. Bontaybo said farther, that all the
fair words of the king proceeded from dissimulation, that he might entice
the general and his people on shore to kill them all; all which evil
intentions were occasioned by the Moors, who made the king believe that
the Portuguese were thieves and pirates, who had come to Calicut to steal
such merchandize as should be brought there; and who had come to spy out
the land, that they might return with a great armament to invade his
dominions. All this was confirmed by two Malabar idolaters, and the
general was in great uncertainty how best to proceed on the present
emergency. That same night, after dark, a Negro slave belonging to Diaz
came off, with the information that Diaz and Braga were made prisoners,
and with an account of the answer which the king had given to his message,
what he had ordered to be done with the present, and of the proclamations
which were made through the city. Diego Diaz, being anxious to have these
things communicated to the general, had bribed a fisherman to carry this
man on board, as he could not well be recognized in the night owing to
his colour. The general, though much offended at these injurious
proceedings, was unwilling to depart till he might see the end of these
things, and therefore waited to see whether anyone might come off to the
ships. Next day, being Wednesday the 15th of August, only one almadia
came off, in which there were four boys, who brought fine precious stones
for sale. Although the general believed they were spies, he received them
kindly, and gave no hints of having heard that Diaz was made a prisoner;
expecting that others of more importance might come on board through whom
he might procure the enlargement of Diaz and Braga. By these boys he
wrote to Diaz, but couched in such a manner that it might not be
understood if it fell into any other hands. The letter was delivered
according to its direction, and the boys told the king of their reception
on board, by which he believed that the general knew not of the
imprisonment of his people. On this he sent off other persons to the
ships, who were strictly enjoined not to disclose the treatment which the
factor had experienced. This was done out of policy to deceive the
general and to detain our ships, till the king might be able to send his
own fleet to set upon him, or till the ships might arrive from Mecca to
take him prisoner.
Some of the Malabars continued to come off daily, all of whom the general
commanded to be well entertained, as he saw none of sufficient importance
to be detained. But, on the Sunday, six principal Malabars came on board,
attended by fifteen men in another pinnace. Believing that the king would
liberate Diaz and Braga in return for these men, he made them all
prisoners; and sent a letter in the Malabar language, by two of the
native boatmen, to the kings factors, demanding his factor and clerk in
return for those men he had detained on board. On perusal of this letter,
the kings factor communicated the same to the king, who commanded him to
take the Portuguese to his own house, that he might not appear to have
had any hand in their detention; and then to restore them to the general
in return for the Malabars, whose wives had made a great clamour about
the detention of their husbands.
Seeing that his people were not sent on board, the general weighed anchor
on Wednesday the 23d of August and set sail, meaning to try if this shew
of going away would have the effect of recovering Diaz and Braga, in
return for these Malabars whom he had detained. The wind being contrary,
he came to anchor in an open road, four leagues from Calicut, where the
ships remained till the Saturday. As there was no appearance of getting
back his people, De Gama again set sail; but for want of wind had to come
again to anchor, almost out of the sight of land. An almadia now came to
the ships with certain Malabars, who said that Diaz and the others were
in the kings palace, and would be assuredly sent on board next day. Not
seeing the detained Malabars, these people believed they had been all put
to death. This affected delay proceeded entirely from craft, that they
might gain time to fit out the Calicut fleet, and for the arrival of the
ships from Mecca, when their combined force might environ and destroy the
Portuguese. The general ordered these messengers to go back to Calicut,
and not to return without his men or letters from them, as otherwise he
should sink them; and that if a satisfactory answer was not sent him
without delay, he would cut off the heads of all the Malabars whom he had
detained. The Malabars returned to Calicut with this message; and a wind
springing up, the general made sail, and came to anchor off Calicut about
sunset.
Next day, seven almadias came off to the fleet, in one of which were
Diego Diaz and Alvora Braga, the others being filled with many of the
natives. These people, however, were afraid to come on board, and put
Diaz and Braga into the boat which was astern of the generals ship, and
then put off to a little distance, waiting for the generals answer. Diego
told the general, that when the king learnt of his having sailed, he sent
for him to the palace, assuming a pleasant countenance as pretending to
be ignorant of his imprisonment, and asked him why the general had kept
his subjects as prisoners on board. On being told the reason, he said the
general was in the right. He then asked if his own factor, who was
present, had extorted any presents; for he well knew that one of his
predecessors had been put to death not long before, for taking bribes
from merchant strangers. After this, the king desired Diaz to request the
general to send him the stone pillar having the cross and the arms of
Portugal, which he had promised to set up; and to know whether he would
leave Diaz as factor in Calicut. Diaz likewise presented a letter for the
king of Portugal, which was written on a palm leaf by Diaz, and signed by
the zamorin, to the following effect:
"Vasco de la Gama, a gentleman of thy house, came to my country, of whose
arrival I was very glad. In my country there is abundance of cinnamon,
cloves, pepper, and precious stones. The commodities I wish to procure
from your country are, silver, gold, coral, and scarlet."
Convinced of the duplicity of the zamorin, De Gama made no answer to the
message; but sent back all the nayres whom he had detained, desired them
to tell the king he should return the others who were in custody, on
receiving back his merchandize. He sent however the stone pillar which
had been required. On the next day Bontaybo came on board, saying that
the kutwal, by order of the zamorin, had seized all his property,
alleging that he was a Christian who had come overland to Calicut as a
spy from the king of Portugal. Bontaybo said, he was sure this bad
treatment had proceeded from the suggestion of the Moors; and, as they
had seized his goods, he was sure they meant personal violence, on which
account he had made his escape. The general gave him a kind reception,
offering to carry him to Portugal, promising that he should recover
double the value of his goods, besides, that he might expect to be well
rewarded by the king of Portugal. To this arrangement Bontaybo gladly
consented, and had a good cabin assigned him by order of the general.
About ten o'clock the same day, three almadias full of men came off to
the ships, having some scarfs laid on their benches, as being part of our
goods; and these were followed by four other almadias, one after the
other. The Malabars pretended that they had brought off all the goods,
which they offered to put into his boat, and required him in return to
deliver up the rest of the prisoners. But convinced this was a mere
deception, the general desired them to go away, as he would have none of
their merchandize, and was resolved to carry the Malabars to Portugal as
witnesses of his discovery. He added, if God spared his life, he should
convince them whether the Christians were thieves, as the Moors had made
the king of Calicut believe, who had therefore treated him with so much
injustice. He now commanded several cannon to be fired, on which they
were afraid and made off.