In Albuquerque's own handwriting:—
'Done by the servant of Your Highness,
'AFONSO D ALBOQUERQUE.'9
9 This letter is translated from the original text preserved in the Torre del Tombo, or Archives of Portugal, printed in the Cartas de Albuquerque, vol. i. pp. 380, 381. The version given in the Commentaries, vol. iv. pp. 195, 196 is much shortened.
It is satisfactory to know that the King complied with the dying wish of the great Governor. Albuquerque's illegitimate son, Braz de Albuquerque, was recognised at Court and married to a rich heiress, Dona Maria de Noronha, daughter of the first Count of Linhares; he was granted a pension of 300,000 reis (about £66) a year; and his name was changed by royal command to Affonso. He proved himself worthy of his father, became Controller of the Household of King John III, and President of the Senate of Lisbon, but posterity is chiefly grateful to him for having compiled the Commentaries of his great father's deeds. King Emmanuel quickly regretted his unworthy treatment of his faithful servant, and in 1516, before the news of his death had reached Lisbon, he sent out orders that while Lopo Soares de Albergaria was to be Governor of Calicut, Cochin and Malacca, Albuquerque was to command in the Indian and Arabian Seas, with power to draw on all the resources of India for a final campaign in the Red Sea. This news, however, never reached the great captain, and the commission was not signed until after his death.
The details of the death of Affonso de Albuquerque are best told in the brief words of the Commentaries.
'At this time he had become so weak that he could not stand, ever desiring Our Lord to take him to Goa, and there do with him as should be best for His service; and when the ship was yet distant three or four leagues from the bar, he ordered them to summon Frei Domingos, the Vicar-General, and Master Affonso, the physician. And as he was so weak that he could not eat anything, he ordered his attendants to give him a little of the red wine which had been sent that year from Portugal. And when the brigantine had sailed away in advance to Goa, the vessel proceeded to cast anchor on the bar, on Saturday night, the fifteenth day of the month of December. When they told Affonso de Albuquerque that he was at the end of his voyage, he lifted up his hands and gave many thanks to Our Lord, because he had vouchsafed to grant him that mercy which he had so earnestly desired, and thus he remained all through that night with the Vicar-General, who had already come off from the shore to the ship, and with Pedro de Alpoem, Secretary of India, whom he constituted his executor, embracing the crucifix and continually talking; and he desired the Vicar-General, who was his confessor, to recite the Passion of Our Lord, written by St. John, to which he was always devoted, for in it, and in that cross which was made in the likeness of that whereon Our Lord had suffered, and on His wounds he rested all the hope of his salvation; and he commanded them to attire him in the costume of the Order of Santiago, whereof he was a Commander, that he might die in it; and on the Sunday, one hour before the dawn, he rendered up his soul to God; and there finished all his troubles without seeing any satisfaction of them.'10
10 Albuquerque's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 196.
The corpse of the great governor was at once conveyed to Goa and
'so great was the crying and weeping on all sides, that it seemed as if the very river of Goa was being poured out.'11
11 Albuquerque's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 198.