A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II - Robert Kerr
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Suarez went accordingly with the fleet to Calicut, where he came to
anchor on Saturday the 7th September; and presently afterwards the boy
who had been to visit him at Cananor came on board, accompanied by a
servant of Cosebequin, who brought the admiral a present from the rulers
of Cochin, and a message requiring a safe conduct for Cosebequin, that he
might come on board to treat for peace. The admiral refused to accept of
any present until such time as peace were restored; but sent word that
Cosebequin might repair on board without fear, as a servant of the king
of Portugal; he sent a private message at the same time to the Portuguese
prisoners, advising them to use their best endeavours to escape. On
receiving this message, Cosebequin was sent on board by the governors of
Calicut, to treat of peace, carrying with him two of the Portuguese
captives. They requested he would wait three or four days, by which time
they believed the zamorin would come out from his seclusion, and that
they were convinced he would agree to all that should be required. The
admiral answered, that unless they would deliver up the two Italian
deserters he would agree to no terms; but he sent no message for the
liberation of our captives, as he thought they might easily escape. As
soon as the Italians learnt that the admiral had demanded them, they
suspected the captives would run away of which circumstance they gave
notice to the governors, requiring them to secure the Portuguese captives,
as they were men of consideration, and that a peace might be procured in
exchange for them almost on any terms the zamorin pleased to prescribe.
On this advice, the governors took care to prevent the captives from
escaping, and became less urgent in their desire of peace. Owing to this,
they remained in captivity till Don Francisco de Almeida became viceroy
of India, though some made their escape in the interim, and others of
them fell victims to the diseases of the climate.
After waiting some days, and finding no friendly steps taken by the
governors of Calicut towards a peace; and being likewise without hope of
recovering the captives, Suarez resolved to take revenge by cannonading
the city of Calicut, which he did for a whole day and a night, during
which time he did prodigious damage, destroying the palace of the zamorin,
several of their pagodas or idol temples, and many of the houses, and
slew a great number of the inhabitants. For this service, he brought
seven of his smallest ships as near the shore as possible, and advanced
all the boats of the fleet, likewise carrying ordnance, close almost to
the beach. After this he departed for Cochin, where he arrived on
Saturday the 13th of September. He landed next day near the Portuguese
castle, in as great state as he had done before at Cananor, and was
received with many marks of satisfaction by Trimumpara. After embracing,
they went hand in hand into the hall, in which a chair of state was
placed for the admiral. As the rajah sat on the cushions on the floor,
according to the custom of the country, and was therefore much lower than
the admiral, he commanded his chair to be removed somewhat farther from
the rajah, by which he greatly offended the native chiefs who were
present at the interview. He now delivered to Trimumpara a letter from
the king of Portugal, in which great compliments and many thanks were
given, for the favour and protection the rajah had vouchsafed to the
Portuguese. To this the rajah answered, that he had been amply repaid, by
the good service which Duarte Pacheco had rendered him in the war with
the zamorin. Next day, the admiral sent a large sum of money to
Trimumpara, as a present from the king of Portugal, who knew that his
finances had been greatly injured ill consequence of the war with Calicut.
Soon after, Suarez sent Pedro de Mendoza and Vasco Carvallo with their
ships to guard the coast of Calicut, with orders to capture all ships
belonging to the Moors that were laden with spices. He likewise
dispatched De la Cocta, Aguilar, Cotinho, and Abreu, to go to Coulan to
take in their loading, being informed that spices were to be had there in
abundance. He likewise sent Tristan de la Silva with four armed boats up
the rivers towards Cranganor, against some armed paraws of Calicut which
were stationed in that quarter. In this expedition, Silva had a skirmish
with these paraws and some nayres on the shores of the rivers; but
falling in with a Moorish ship laden with pepper, he captured her and
brought her to Cochin, where he and the other captains loaded their ships,
as spices were now procured in great abundance.
Duarte Pacheco happened to be off Coulan when he learnt the arrival of
Suarez; and knowing that his own command was ended so soon as the new
captain-general should arrive at Cochin, determined to attempt some
exploits while he remained master of his own conduct. With this view, he
put to sea on the 22d of October, and soon after got sight of a ship at a
great distance, to which he gave chase all that day and part of the night.
The chase was driven into Coulan, when Pacheco learnt that she _belonged
to the confederates[3]_, and was bound from Coromandel. He immediately
afterwards descried three ships of Calicut, to which he gave chase,
keeping as near the coast a possible to take the advantage of a land
breeze. In the morning he put off to sea in chase of the vessel, which he
was unable to get up with till towards evening close to the land; after a
brave defence, as the ship had many men, she at length yielded; and not
chusing to encumber himself with so many prisoners, he landed a part of
her company, and made the rest prisoners in irons in his own ship.
Learning that this was one of the three ships belonging to Calicut of
which he was in search, he put two of his men on board the prize, with
orders to keep him company. Being arrived directly abreast of Cape
Comorin, he met with a sudden whirlwind, by which he was nearly cast away,
and when this subsided, he came to anchor within a league of the shore,
where he remained all night. While at anchor thirty of his Moorish
prisoners made their escape, twelve of whom were retaken by means of his
boat. Pacheco remained for some time off the Cape in expectation of the
other ships of the Moors coming round from Coromandel, but none making
their appearance, he went to Coulan with the ship he had captured, which
he delivered to the factor at that city with all its rich merchandize. He
then went to Cochin, where he put himself under the command of Suarez.
The zamorin had now resumed the government, having withdrawn from the
_torcul_ or religious seclusion. He had dispatched one of his generals
with a fleet of eighty paraws and fifty ships[4] to defend the passages
of the rivers, and to obstruct the trade of Cochin with the interior; and
had likewise set on foot a considerable land army under the prince Naubea
Daring. It was the intention of the zamorin to stand on the defensive
only while the Portuguese fleet remained in India, and to renew the war
against Cochin after their departure. But the admiral Suarez, by the
advice of all his captains, resolved to make an attack on Cranganor, a
town belonging to the zamorin, about four leagues from Cochin, whence the
enemy had often done much injury to the dominions of Trimumpara during
the late war. For this purpose, Suarez took fifteen armed boats with
raised defences on their gunwales, and twenty-five paraws belonging to
Cochin, all armed with cannon, and accompanied by a caravel, the whole
manned with about 1000 Portuguese soldiers, and an equal number of nayres
from Cochin. The armament arrived before day at _Palypuerto_, where it
had to wait for daylight, not daring to attempt the passage of certain
shoals, as the boats were heavily laden. On arriving at Cranganor, the
fleet of Calicut was found drawn up ready to repel the Portuguese attack.
The Calicut commander was posted in the front, in two new ships chained
together, which were full of ordnance and well manned; chiefly by archers.
In the rear of these ships, and on both flanks, the paraws of Calicut
were arranged, all full of armed men.
On the arrival of the Portuguese flotilla, the battle immediately
commenced by the discharge of ordnance on both sides. Five Portuguese
captains who led the van, pushed on to attack the Calicut admiral in his
two chained ships, which they carried by boarding after a brave
resistance, in which that officer and two of his sons with many others of
the Malabars were slain. After the capture of these ships, the paraws
made little resistance, and soon took to flight. Suarez immediately
disembarked his troops, which soon put Naubea Daring to flight, who
commanded the land army of Calicut. The Moors and Malabars in their
flight, plundered the houses of Cranganor, which was immediately
afterwards set on fire by the Portuguese. Certain Christian inhabitants
of the place came to Suarez and prayed him not to burn their city,
representing that it contained several churches dedicated to the Virgin
and the Apostles, besides many Christian houses which were interspersed
among these belonging to the Moors and Gentiles. For their sakes, Suarez
ordered the conflagration to be stopped; yet many of the houses were
destroyed before that could be effected, as they were all of wood. After
the fire was quenched, our men plundered the houses belonging to the
Moors, many of whom had formerly dwelt in Cochin. The two ships, and
several paraws which had been taken in the before mentioned engagement,
were set on fire, and other three ships that were found drawn on shore.
At this time Suarez was joined by the prince of Cochin, who informed him
that Naubea Daring remained with his army at no great distance, and
intended to return to Cranganor after his departure. A considerable force
was therefore sent against Naubea Daring; but immediately on seeing their
approach, the troops of Calicut fled. On the return of the Portuguese
flotilla towards Cochin, Suarez was disposed to have destroyed another
town which lay near their passage; but the prince of Cochin represented
that half of it belonged to him, and prevailed on the admiral to spare it,
as he could not destroy one part without the other. Suarez, therefore,
returned to Cochin, where he knighted some of his officers for their
bravery during the last engagement. A few days after his return, there
came an ambassador from the rajah of _Tanor_, whose dominions are next
adjoining to those of Cochin. This ambassador represented, that his
master had hitherto adhered to the zamorin, and had assisted him in all
his wars against Pacheco. But that the zamorin, since he had come out
from his religious seclusion, had redoubled his arrogant ideas of his
irresistible power, and in reward of the services of the rajah of Tanor,
now threatened him with war and conquest. He farther represented, that on
the late occasion, when the general of the Calicut forces was in full
march for the relief of Cranganor, the rajah of Tanor had placed 4000 of
his nayres in ambush in a defile in their line of march, who had defeated
the troops of Calicut, and hod slain 2000 of them. On this account the
rajah of Tanor was in great fear of the zamorin, and humbly requested
assistance from the admiral, promising in return to become subject to the
king of Portugal.
For this purpose, the admiral sent Pedro Raphael in a caravel to Tanor,
with 100 soldiers, most of whom were crossbow men. It chanced that on the
very day of his arrival at Tanor, the zamorin arrived before that city
with his army and gave battle to the rajah; but, chiefly owing to the
valour of Raphael and his company, the army of the zamorin was defeated
with great slaughter. In reward for this well-timed succour, the rajah of
Tanor became subject to the king of Portugal. In consequence of this
defeat, the zamorin was much humbled, and lost more credit with the Moors
than by all the victories which Pacheco had obtained; as these had been
obtained by strangers, while the present victory had been gained by a
native prince. In consequence of these reverses, seeing no likelihood of
ever being able to recover their trade, all the Moors who dwelt in
Calicut and Cranganor determined upon removing to their own country with
their remaining wealth. For this purpose, they fitted up seventeen large
ships at _Pandarane_, which they armed on purpose to defend themselves
against any attack from our men, and loaded them with all expedition for
Mecca. Besides these, they loaded a great number of paraws and tonys with
such goods as the ships were unable to contain.
The season now approached for the return of the fleet to Portugal, and
Suarez appointed Manuel Telez de Vasconcelles[5] as captain-general of
the Indies, with whom he left a ship and two caravels, of which last
Pedro Raphael and Diego Perez were captains. The admiral presented these
officers to the rajah of Cochin, who would much rather have procured
Duarte Pacheco to remain, having great confidence in his valour and
attachment to his service, but dared not to request this of the admiral,
as he was of a haughty disposition. In a conference between Pacheco
and the rajah, the latter entreated him to remain in India if possible,
as he did not think himself quite secure from the enmity of the zamorin;
and even urged him to remember that he had promised not to leave him till
he had made him king of Calicut. Pacheco answered, that he left him in a
good situation, his country being restored to quiet, and the zamorin so
much humbled that he was no longer to be dreaded; as a proof of which the
Moors were about to depart from Calicut, seeing their trade entirely
ruined. And that he hoped to return from Portugal, and to serve him
longer and to greater purpose than he had done hitherto. The rajah was
somewhat satisfied with this answer, and craved pardon of Pacheco that he
had not rewarded his services as they deserved, because he was extremely
poor; yet requested he would take as much pepper as he pleased. Pacheco
refused to accept of any thing; saying, he hoped to find the rajah rich
and prosperous on his return to Cochin, and then he would accept a reward.
The rajah gave Pacheco a letter for the king of Portugal, in which he set
forth all his gallant actions during the war, strongly recommending him
to his majesties favour.
The admiral Suarez departed from Cochin on the 27th December[6], taking
with him the whole of his fleet, even those captains who were to remain
in India. His intention was to have come to anchor in the harbour of
Paniani, on purpose to visit the rajah of Tanor; but from foul weather,
and bad pilots, the fleet could not make that port, and was driven to
Calicut and Pandarane. Being off these ports and with a scanty wind, the
admiral detached Raphael and Perez with their caravels, to examine if
there were any ships of the Moors at anchor. While on this service, ten
paraws came off to attack them, and an engagement ensued. On the rest of
the fleet hearing the sound of the ordnance, they bore up as close to the
wind as possible, and came to anchor[7]. In a council of war, it was
resolved to attack the seventeen ships of the Moors, which lay all
aground; and as the ships were unable to get near them, because they lay
within the bar, the attack was determined to be made by the boats of the
fleet, with orders to set the Moorish ships on fire. This being resolved
upon, the admiral and all the captains of the fleet embarked in the boats,
taking with them all the soldiers belonging to the expedition.
The Moorish ships were all drawn on the beach in a close line, having
their sterns to the shore, and were well armed with ordnance, and had
many soldiers on board armed with bows and arrows, a considerable number
of them being men of a fair complexion[8]. Besides all these, the Moors
had two pieces of ordnance on a small bulwark or redoubt which flanked
the passage of the bar. Our boats, seeing all these formidable
preparations, returned towards the fleet[9], whence they towed several
caravels within the bar to assist the boats in the attack. After a severe
conflict, in which the Portuguese had twenty-five men killed, and 127
wounded, the whole seventeen ships of the Moors were boarded and taken,
with the loss of 2000 men. But as the Moorish ships were all aground, the
victors were under the necessity to burn them, with all the rich
merchandize they contained. Owing to this severe loss, the Moors deserted
the city of Calicut, which by the cessation of trade became much
distressed for provisions, insomuch that most of its inhabitants withdrew
to other places. The zamorin was so much humbled by this succession of
disastrous events, that he remained quiet for a long time afterwards[10].
The particular incidents of this engagement are so confusedly related in
Lichefilds translation of Castaneda as to baffle every attempt to reduce
them into intelligible order. Among these, the two following are more
distinctly told. Tristan de la Silva endeavoured to board a ship which
appeared to be the admiral, of which the captain and a numerous crew were
Turks. A little before De Silva got up to this ship, the crew had fired
off a piece of ordnance which lay on the upper deck, and which by its
recoil broke a large hole in the side of the ship. The Turks were so
intent on defending themselves against the Portuguese boats, that they
neglected to barricade this hole, of which the people in De Silvas boat
took advantage to get on board; Alonzo Lopez the master, and Alvaro Lopez
one of the kings servants, now town-clerk of Santarem, being the first
who entered by the hole. A desperate conflict ensued on deck, in which
many of the Turks were slain, others hid themselves below the hatches,
and others leapt into the water, most of whom were drowned, as they were
covered with shirts of mail.
The caravel commanded by Pedro Raphael, one of these brought within the
bar to co-operate with the boats, was struck by a ball from the battery
on shore, which killed three men and dangerously wounded other ten. In
the confusion occasioned by this accident, another shot killed the master
at the helm, and the caravel drove with the tide of flood right under the
bows of a large Moorish ship full of men which had not yet been attacked
by the boats. In this situation, a great number of the enemy boarded the
caravel, _and used our men very ill_. The caravel afterwards drifted on
certain rocks, where she remained till the end of the battle. The
situation of the caravel was now perceived by the admiral, who ordered
effectual succour to be sent to Raphael. The succours boarded the caravel,
which was quite full of Moors, whom they drove out with great slaughter;
but all of our men belonging to that caravel were sore hurt.
On the next day, being the first of January 1505, the admiral went with
the fleet to Cananor, to take in the rest of his lading. He was here
informed by the factor of the humbled situation of the Moors, from whom,
in his opinion, the Portuguese had no longer any thing to fear in India.
Being ready to depart for Europe, the admiral made an oration to Manual
Telez, and those who were to remain with him in India, giving them
instructions for their conduct after his departure; and as the enemy was
so greatly humbled, he considered that such a fleet as had formerly been
left by Albuquerque was quite sufficient, in which he left an hundred
soldiers. Indeed the zamorin, as has been already said, was sick of the
war, and remained quiet after the departure of the admiral.
Departing from Cananor, Suarez arrived off Melinda on the 1st of February;
where, without landing himself, he sent Antonio de Saldanna to bring away
the rich prizes he had formerly made at Cape Guardafui. From Melinda, the
fleet went to Quiloa, on purpose to enforce the payment of the tribute
from the king of that place. Departing from thence on the 10th of
February, he arrived safe at Lisbon on the 22d of June 1505[11], without
any incident worth relating[12]; carrying with him two ships more than
had accompanied him to India, all laden with rich commodities, and was
received by the King Don Manuel with great honour.
When the king learnt the great service which Pacheco had performed in
India, he expressed his high approbation of his conduct in a public
procession. The king went, in all the splendour usually shewn on _Corpus
Christi_ day, from the high church to that of St Domingo, accompanied by
Duarte Pacheco. After solemn service, a sermon was preached by Don Diego
Ortis, bishop of Viseo; who, by the kings command, gave a rehearsal of
all that had been performed by Pacheco in the war against the zamorin. On
the same day, a solemn festival was held in all the churches of Portugal
and Algarve. The king sent letters on the occasion to the pope and all
the princes of Christendom, announcing all these notable acts and
victories which had been performed in the Indies.[13]
[1] These are said to have been the largest ships hitherto built in
Portugal, and to have carried 1200 men; perhaps soldiers, besides
their ordinary crews.--Astl. I. 57.
[2] The Turkish empire, as succeeding that of the Romans or Greeks of
Constantinople, is still called _Rumi_ in the east. It will be
afterwards seen, that these _Rumes_, Romans, or Turks, made some
powerful efforts to drive the Portuguese from India, as greatly
injurious to the Indian trade with Europe through the Red Sea and
Egypt.--E.
[3] This expression is quite inexplicable, unless we may pick out very
darkly that it belonged to the Calicut confederacy against the
Portuguese. Yet Castaneda, or his imperfect translator Lichefild, does
not inform us whether this vessel was made a prize. Lichefild seems
almost always to have had a very imperfect knowledge of the language
of the author, often to have mistaken his meaning or expressed it with
great obscurity, and sometimes writes even a kind of jargon, by
endeavouring to translate verbally without being able to catch an idea
from the original.--E.
[4] According to Astley, from De Fariz only _five_ ships; and indeed in
the sequel, Castaneda only mentions _two_ ships as employed, on the
present occasion and three others that were drawn up on shore.--E.
[5] At the commencement of this section, Castaneda names this person Lope
Mendez de Vasconcelles; in Astley, I. 58, he is called Manuel Tellez
Barreto.--E.
[6] In Lichefilds translation of Castaneda, this date is made the 27th
September, which is an obvious mistake.--E.
[7] By some strange blunder, Lichefild says they came to _Cananor_; but
from all the circumstances in the contexts, it is obvious that the
fleet came to anchor on the outside of the bar at Pandarane.--E.
[8] Arabs probably, whites in the estimation of the Portuguese as
compared with the native blacks of Malabar.--E.
[9] This part of the story is very confusedly translated by Lichefild.
According to his relation, in one sense, the admiral alone returned in
his boat for the caravels; while, by another part of his expressions,
the whole boats returned for the admiral and the caravels.--E.
[10] According to Astley, a peace was concluded between the Portuguese
and the zamorin immediately after the victory obtained by the rajah of
Tanore; but this does not agree with the circumstances just related
respecting the destruction of the Moorish fleet in the harbour of
Pandarane, which would hardly have been done during a time of peace--E.
[11] By some strange typographical mistake, Lichefild makes this date
1525, both in the text and in a marginal note, thus adding no less
than twenty years to the true chronology. In Astleys Collection, the
conclusion of this voyage is dated 22d July 1506; but we have chosen
to retain the regular series of dates as given by Castaneda. Owing to
the mistake in Lichefilds translation not being detected till a part
of this chapter was printed off, it has been repeated in our
introduction to this article, which our readers are requested to
correct.--E.
[12] In Astley, the ship commanded by Pedro Mendoza, is said to have been
stranded during the homeward voyage, fourteen leagues from the
_Aguada_, or watering-place of St Blas, and never more heard of.--Astl.
I. 58.
[13] Astley concludes the account of the honours conferred on Pacheco in
the following words: "But soon after imprisoned, and allowed him to
die miserably. A terrible example of the uncertainty of royal favour,
and the little regard that is had to true merit!"--Astl. I. 58.
CHAPTER VII.
LETTERS FROM LISBON IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, RESPECTING
THE THEN RECENT DISCOVERY OF THE ROUTE BY SEA TO INDIA.[1]
INTRODUCTION.
The following letters bear to have been written by some Italian public
agents and merchants, to their employers and friends, and contain a
curious record of the first impressions made on the public mind by the
wonderful discoveries which navigation was then opening up to the
European world. They are selected from the _Novus Orbis_, a work which
was published by _Simon Grynaeus_ early in the sixteenth century.
According to M. de la Richarderie,[2] this collection was formed by Hans
Heteirs, canon of Strasburg, and was printed under the care of Simon
Grynaeus, by Isaac Hervag, in folio, at Basil in 1532. We learn likewise
that it passed rapidly through several editions, having been reprinted at
Basil in 1535, 1537, and 1555; and at Paris in 1582. The edition used on
the present occasion is printed at Basil in 1555 by Jo. Hervag. Its
principal contents, besides those translated for the present chapter, are
the voyages of Cada Mosto, already given; the discovery of America by
Christopher Columbus, which will form the first article in our subsequent
volume; the voyages of Vincent Alonzo Pinzon, and of Americus Vespucius,
which will be attended to hereafter; and the travels of Marco Polo, which
have been already given at full length from a better source.