As the king had sent orders to the governor to build forts at the Moluccas, Sumatra, Maldive, Chaul, and Diu, Sequeira determined upon attempting the last first. Having dispatched the homeward ships from Cochin, he collected a fleet of 48 vessels of various kinds and sizes, on board of which he embarked 3000 Portuguese and 800 Malabars and Canarins. With this great force he appeared before Diu on the 9th of February 1521. Malek Azz, being suspicious that this armament was destined against him, had fortified and intrenched the city with great care. At the arrival of the Portuguese, Malek Azz was at the court of Cambaya, but had left his son Malek Saca with a strong garrison and three experienced commanders. Observing the strength of the place, Sequeira called a council of war to consult upon what was proper to be done, when it was concluded to desist from the enterprise. The officers of the fleet, though they had all concurred in this decision, and even privately allowed its prudence and necessity, accused the governor of cowardice on this occasion, though his valour was well known. Sequeira accordingly retired to Ormuz for the winter, sending Alexius de Menezes to Cochin with full power to conduct the government during his absence, and several of the other captains went to different ports to trade. Menezes dispatched the homeward trade from Cochin, and sent other ships to various parts of India, some of which went to Sumatra.
The island of Sumatra extends in length from the north-west to the south-east, for about 220 leagues, by 70 in its greatest breadth, and is cut nearly in two equal parts by the equinoctial line. It is separated from Malacca by a narrow strait, and its most southern point is parted from Java by one still narrower. Java is above 100 leagues long by twelve in breadth. To the east of Sumatra is the great island of Borneo, through which likewise the equinoctial passes, leaving two-thirds of the island on the north side of the line. The maritime parts of Sumatra are flat, but the interior is full of mountains, pervaded by many large rivers, and covered by impenetrable woods which even the rays of the sun are unable to pierce. Owing to these circumstances Sumatra is very unhealthy, yet is much resorted to for its rich and valuable productions, and particularly on account of its abounding in gold. Besides gold, it produces white sandal-wood, benzoin, camphor, pepper, ginger, cinnamon[153], abundance of silk, and abounds in fish and cattle. It has in one part a spring of petroleum or rock oil, and one of its mountains is a volcano. The original natives of the island are pagans; but the Moors who came there first as merchants, have possessed themselves of the island as lords ever since the year 1400. Among the inland tribes is one called Batas, who are of most brutal manners, and even feed on human flesh. The Moors who dwell on the coast, use several languages, but chiefly the Malay. Their weapons are poisoned arrows like the natives of Java from whom they are descended, but they likewise use fire-arms. This island is divided into nine kingdoms; of which Pedier was once the chief; but now that of Pacem or Pisang is the most powerful, yet its kings only continue to reign so long as it pleases the rabble.
[Footnote 153: Probably cassia.]
At this time George Albuquerque was sent to Sumatra, on purpose to restore a king of Pisang who had been expelled and had fled to the Portuguese for protection and aid. On his arrival, having secured the co-operation and assistance of the neighbouring king of Ara, Albuquerque sent a message to the usurper desiring him to resign the kingdom to the lawful prince, who had submitted to the king of Portugal, Genial, the usurper, offered to make the same submission, if allowed to retain possession, but this offer was refused. Albuquerque then attacked Genial in his fort, which was scaled and the gate broke open; yet the usurper and thirty men valiantly defended a tower over the gateway, till Genial was slain by a musket-shot, on which the others immediately fled. The Portuguese troops, about 300 in number, were opposed by 3000 Moors in the market-place, assisted by some elephants. Hector de Sylveira endeavoured to strike one of these in the trunk with his lance, which the beast put aside, and laying hold of Sylveira threw him into the air, yet he had the good fortune to survive. Two other Portuguese soldiers had better success, as one of them killed the rider and the other wounded the elephant, on which he turned among his own party whom he trampled to death without mercy. The Moors now returned to another post, but with the aid of the king of Ara, they were completely defeated by the Portuguese, 2000 of them being slain. In this battle Albuquerque received two wounds in his face, and four or five persons of note were killed on the side of the Portuguese, besides a great many wounded. Next day the dispossessed prince of Pisang was reinstated with much ceremony, being made tributary to the king of Portugal, and a fort was erected at his capital, as at other places, to keep him under subjection.
At this time Antonio de Brito arrived at Pisang from, Acheen, where his brother George de Brito had been slain by the Moors with a great number of men, in a scandalous attempt to rob the sepulchres of the kings of that country of a great quantity of gold they were said to contain. Antonio was now left by Albuquerque in the command of the new fort of Pisang, with three ships which were afterwards of great service against a Moor who infested the coast. On his return to Malacca, of which he had the command, Albuquerque prepared to make war upon the king of Bintang. That island, about 40 leagues from Malacca, is forty leagues in circumference, having two strong castles, and its rivers staked to prevent the access of ships, so that it was considered as almost impregnable. Albuquerque went from Malacca with 18 vessels and 600 men, and finding it impossible to get his ships up, he endeavoured to land his men from boats to attack one of the forts; but the water being up to their middles, and the enemy making a brave resistance, they were forced to retire after losing twenty men, besides a great number wounded.
In the same year 1521, Antonio de Brito sailed for the Molucca islands. These islands are in the middle of a great number of others under the equator, about 300 leagues east from Malacca. There are five principal islands to which the general name of Moluccas is applied, about 25 leagues distant from each other, the largest not exceeding six leagues in circumference. The particular names of these are Ternate, Tidore, Mousell, Macquein and Bacham[154]. They are covered with woods and subject to fogs, and are consequently unhealthy. These five islands produce cloves, but no kind of food; and the large island of Batochina, which is 60 leagues long, produces food but no cloves. In some of these islands, particularly Ternate, there are burning mountains. Their chief subsistence is of a kind of meal made from the bark of certain trees resembling the palm[155]. There are certain canes that have a liquor in their hollows between the joints, which is delightful to drink. Though the country abounds in animals, the natives eat very little flesh, but live chiefly on fish which their seas produce inexhaustibly. They are very warlike and by no means affable, and are most expert both in running and swimming. Their religion is idolatrous, but we have no account whatever respecting their original. The Moors had possessed themselves of this country not long before the coming of the Portuguese, as a Mahometan priest who had come along with the first of the Moorish invaders was still alive at the arrival of Brito.
[Footnote 154: The principal island of the Molucca group is Gilolo; those in the text being small islands to the west of Gilolo. The large island mentioned in the text under the name of Batochina, can be no other than Gilolo.--E.]
[Footnote 155: This is obviously an erroneous account of Sago, an alimentary substance procured from the pith of a tree of the palm tribe, not from the bark.--E.]
Antonio de Brito was sent on this occasion to build a fort in the island of Ternate, which had been long desired by its king Boylefe. His force consisted of six ships and 300 soldiers, and was increased at the island of Agacim by four sail under the command of Garcia Enriquez. On arriving at Ternate, the old king Boylefe was dead, and the king of Tidore had admitted the Spaniards to settle on his island; yet seeing that the queen who governed Ternate during the minority of her son gave a friendly reception to Brito, the king of Tidore visited him and offered to deliver up the Spaniards to him if he would build the fort on Tidore instead of Ternate. But Ternate was preferred as the most convenient, Brito laying the first stone on the festival of St John the Baptist, the 28th of December 1521.
At this time a private correspondence was carried on between Francis Serram, who resided in Ternate and Ferdinando de Magallanes in Portugal, which turned to the advantage of Spain and the detriment of Portugal. Magalanes, otherwise named Magellan, was a man of note and a knight of St Jago, who had served with reputation at Azamor in Africa and in several parts of India. Having solicited for a small allowance usually given in reward of service, and which was refused, he left Portugal and entered into the service of Spain. From his skill in sea affairs, and the correspondence he held with Serram at Ternate, he concluded there might be another way to India; and as the Spaniards had already tasted the fruits of these islands, he wrote to Serram that he hoped soon to be his guest at Ternate going thither by a new way[156]. He accordingly got the command of five ships with 250 men, some of whom were Portuguese. Sailing from the port of San Lucar de Barameda on the 20th of September 1519, after having renounced his country by a solemn act, he sailed toward the south along the eastern coast of South America. When past Rio de Janeiro on the coast of Brazil, the men began to grow mutinous, and still more so when they had gone beyond the river of St Julian on the coast of Patagonia, where they did not immediately find the strait of passage to the Pacific Ocean, and found themselves pinched by the cold of that inhospitable climate. As they proceeded to hold disrespectful discourses against Magellan, both reflecting upon his pretended knowledge, and espousing doubts of his fidelity, which came to his knowledge, he called together all the principal people in his squadron, to whom he made a long and learned discourse. Yet a conspiracy was entered into to kill Magellan, by three of his captains, named Cartagene, Quixada, and Mendoza. Their design however was discovered, on which Mendoza was immediately stabbed, and the other two arrested and punished as traitors; Quixada being quartered alive, while Cartagene and a priest concerned in the plot were set ashore on the barbarous coast. Most of the men were engaged in the conspiracy, but it was necessary to pardon them that there might be seamen for prosecuting the voyage.