While on his voyage to India, Enriquez met two ships commanded by Sebastian Souza and Martin Correa, bound for the Island of Banda to load with spices; who learning the dangerous situation of Pisang, went directly to that place. Ayres Coello had just sustained a furious assault with some loss; and on seeing this relief the enemy abated their fury. Eight days afterwards, Andres was forced back by stress of weather to Pisang. One night, above 8000 of the enemy surrounded the fort, in which there were 350 Portuguese, some of whom were sick and others disabled by wounds, but all much spent with continual watching and fatigue. The enemy advanced in profound silence and applied seven hundred scaling ladders to the walls, on which they immediately mounted with loud shouts. The dispute was hotly maintained on both sides for some time; but some ships being set on fire enabled the Portuguese to point their cannon with such accuracy, that many of the enemy were slain, and the rest obliged to desist from the assault. Next morning above two thousand of the enemy were found slain around the walls, with two elephants; while on the Portuguese side only one woman was slain in her chamber by an arrow. The remaining six thousand of the enemy immediately retired, leaving half their ladders and large quantities of fireworks. Yet taking into consideration the difficulty and expence of maintaining this port, it was resolved to ship off all the men and goods, and to set it on fire, leaving the large cannons filled with powder, that they might burst when the fire reached them. Greater part of the fort was destroyed; but the enemy saved some of the cannon, which were afterwards employed with considerable effect against the Portuguese. Some goods were lost in shipping, as the Portuguese were in a great fright, and embarked up to the neck in water. By this abandonment of their post, the Portuguese lost more reputation with the natives of Sumatra than they had gained by their former valiant defence. They were fully sensible of this, as they met a powerful reinforcement at sea under Azevedo; and learnt that the king of Aru was marching by land to their assistance with 4000 men. The king of Achem followed up his good fortune, and rendered himself all-powerful in Sumatra, beyond even his hopes.
About this time[175] Malacca was much straitened by the king of Bintang, who sent a powerful armament against it, to oppose which. George Albuquerque sent a naval force under Don Sancho Enriquez; but in a violent storm 70 out of 200 Portuguese were lost. Till now the king of Pahang had sided with the Portuguese; but seeing the tide of fortune had turned against them, he too became their enemy. Ignorant of this change, Albuquerque sent three-ships to his port for provisions, where two of his captains and thirty men were killed: The third made his escape, but was slain with all his men at Java. Simon de Abreu and his crew were slain on another occasion; and two vessels sent to prevent provisions from getting into Bintang were lost.
[Footnote 175: De Faria is often defective in dates, and always confused. The events about this time are only vaguely stated as having happened during the government of Duarte Menezes, between the years 1522 and 1524, both inclusive. Among the confused mass of ill-digested and often indistinctly related events, many of which possess hardly any interest, we have now deemed it proper, in the farther prosecution of this History of the Portuguese transactions in India, to omit many trivial and uninteresting events, confining our attention to those of some importance, and which appear worth recording. The Portuguese Asia of DeFaria minutely relates every consecutive squadron sent to or from India, and every trifling commercial adventure; the insertion of which in our collection would be needlessly tedious.--E.]
In 1524, the memorable DON VASCO DE GAMA, now count of Vidugueyra, went out to India as viceroy with 14 ships and 8000 soldiers. During the voyage, two caravels were lost with all their men, and a third was lost but the men saved. Gaspar Mossem, one of the captains, was basely killed by his crew, merely because he was not a Portuguese. While at sea near Cambaya in a dead calm, the sea tossed so violently all of a sudden that all the people thought they were lost: But the viceroy perceiving it was caused by an earthquake, called out, "Courage my friends, the sea trembles for fear of you." One great ship of Mecca, worth 60,000 crowns, was taken, and the fleet arrived at Goa. Having visited some of the forts, and issued the necessary orders, Gama sent three gallies from Cochin to Calicut, as the subjects of the zamorin began to be troublesome. One of these fought for three hours with fifty large paraos and lost three men; but on the coming up of the others, the enemy were put to flight. The new viceroy had intended to execute several important enterprises; but he soon fell sick, and finding his end fast approaching, he appointed Lope Vaz de Sampayo to act as his successor till Don Enrique de Menezes, then at Goa, who was next in nomination by the king, might arrive. Vasco de Gama died on Christmas eve 1524, having been only three months viceroy. He was of middle stature, somewhat gross, and had a ruddy complexion. He had a natural boldness for any great undertaking, and was well fitted for every thing entrusted to him, as a sea captain, as discoverer, and as viceroy; being patient of fatigue, prompt in the execution of justice, and terrible when angry.
Immediately after the death of the viceroy, Lope Vaz de Sampayo dispatched Francisco de Sa to Goa, to carry information to Don Enrique de Menezes that he had succeeded to the government of Portuguese India. Leaving De Sa to command in Goa, Menezes went immediately to Cochin to assume his new situation; having first sent his nephew George Zelo with a galliot and five armed paraos against a fleet which infested the coast. Zelo met 38 vessels laden with spice commanded by Cutiale, four of which were taken and the rest driven on shore. These four were brought in barbarous triumph to Goa, having many of the enemies hung upon the shrouds. The Canarin rowers carried thirty heads, in token of the victory, and twelve prisoners alive, who were given up to the boys to be stoned to death. Zelo had similar success afterwards against a ship and nine paraos. He sailed after that to Cochin with his uncle, who, being accidentally joined by George de Menezes, defeated 36 paraos belonging to Diu, 17 of which were taken. When at Cananor be hanged a Moor of quality, on which many of his relations left the city and took to robbing on the river. But, with consent of the king of Cananor, Don Enrique sent Hector de Sylveira against them with two gallies and a brigantine, who destroyed four towns[176] and took all their cannon, not without considerable difficulty. About the same time Christopher de Brito went with fourteen row-boats and about an hundred men to scour the coast of Canara, where he destroyed some of the Moors; but those of Dabul sent two galliots and seven other vessels against him, with above three hundred men. In the commencement of the engagement Brito was slain; but his people exerted themselves so valiantly to revenge the death of their commander, that after four hours hard fighting most of the Moors were slain, and their commander and all the rest taken. The Moorish captain died afterwards of his wounds at Goa, being first converted to the Christian faith.
[Footnote 176: Perhaps instead of towns we ought to read tonys, a species of vessel then need by the inhabitants of the Malabar coast.--E.]
The fort at Calicut was at this time much straitened by the Nayres, yet the small garrison of fifty Portuguese maintained their post with much honour. Don Enrique, to punish the hostilities of the Moors of Calicut, fitted out fifty sail of vessels from Cochin, to which were added other fifty belonging to the inhabitants of that city, twenty-seven of which belonged to one individual named Arel de Porca[177]. With these vessels, carrying 2000 soldiers, the governor arrived at Paniani, one of the principal towns in the territory of Calicut, which was well fortified and stored with cannon under the command of a Portuguese renegado. Besides these fortifications on the land, the river was defended by a number of armed vessels drawn up in order of battle. After a severe contest, the fortifications of Paniani were carried, and the enemy fled into the woods. The town and all the vessels in the fort were burnt. Next day twelve ships were burnt in the port of Calicut, and several more in some creeks near the town. The armament proceeded in the next place to Coulete, which was fortified in a similar manner to Paniani, with a prodigious number of artillery, an hundred and fifty armed ships, and a garrison of 20,000 men. The Portuguese proceeded to the attack, and after a long and obstinate contest, drove the enemy from their works with great slaughter, and took fifty-three vessels, most of which were laden with pepper, with the loss of fifty-four Portuguese killed and many wounded. The other vessels belonging to the enemy, being much shattered in the engagement, were all burnt, and the town was destroyed.
[Footnote 177: These hundred vessels were probably paraos, or small native craft, considering that they only carried 2000 soldiers, only at the rate of 20 for each vessel--E.]
Shortly after this, the zamorin of Calicut besieged the Portuguese fort at that place with an army of 12,000 men, and surrounded it with a broad and deep trench. Don Juan de Lima commanded in the fort with 300 men, and did every thing in his power to obstruct the besiegers in the construction of their lines; but they were at length finished and planted with a vast number of cannon, some of which were so large as to carry balls of two spans diameter. On receiving advice of this siege, Don Enrique sent a reinforcement of 150 men in two caravels commanded by Christopher Jusarte and Duarte Fonseca. They succeeded in forcing their way into the fort in spite of a violent opposition by sea and land. Immediately afterwards, the enemy endeavoured to take the fort by escalade, but were repulsed with great slaughter. A farther reinforcement of 500 men from Cochin being unable to reach Calicut, Don Enrique went there with all the naval force he could collect, being unwilling that his government should suffer the disgrace of allowing this fortress to be taken by the enemy. Having thrown some strong reinforcements into the fort, Don Enrique landed with the remainder of his troops, after clearing the shore of the enemy, by means of his guns assisted by grenadoes and other fireworks. All the intrenchments and redoubts of the besiegers were successively carried, with prodigious slaughter of the Moors and Nayres, of whom above 3000 were slain, besides many others burnt in their wooden forts and bulwarks. In this engagement Don George de Menezes made great slaughter of the enemy with a two-handed sword; till losing his right hand, he took a smaller sword in his left, and continued to fight with great valour.
Don Enrique remained master of the field, in which he encamped for some days: But as the fort was not considered important in proportion to its expence, it was stripped of every thing of value with great care and privacy, and mines and trains laid to blow it up; after which the whole army retired to the ships. On seeing the fort evacuated, the Moors rushed in to plunder in vast numbers; but the mines suddenly taking fire, blew up the whole fabric with a vast explosion, in which great numbers of the enemy perished miserably.