The greatest hurt done by the Portuguese to the Persians in the assault on the castle, was by means of powder-pots, by which many of the assailants were scorched and severely burned. To guard against this, the Khan has now sent over many coats and jackets of leather, as not so liable to catch fire as their calico coats, quilted or stuffed with cotton wool. Yet, according to the English proverb, The burnt child dreads the fire; notwithstanding their leathern coats, none of them are hardy enough to attempt this new breach, though much easier to enter than the former, any farther than to pillage certain bales of bastas and other stuffs which have fallen down from a barricade or breast-work, thrown up by the Portuguese for defending the top of the breach from the fire of the Persians.
On the 5th of April the Persian general had news that 100,000 maunds of powder were arrived from Bahrein. On the 12th, a Portuguese came to the Persian general, having escaped from the castle, and gave accounts of the great wants and weaknesses of the garrison, insomuch, that six or eight died daily of the flux, chiefly owing to their having nothing to drink, but corrupted brackish water, of which even they have so little as to be put on short allowance, so that several have died of thirst. Their only food consists of rice and salt fish, both of which would require a good allowance of drink. Notwithstanding all this, the Persian general wastes his time in constructing new mines, of which he has no less than three in hand at this time, as if he proposed to blow up the wall all round about, before making any fresh assault. On the night of the 12th, one of our frigates or barks, which belonged to the London, being on guard alone, to prevent the escape of the Portuguese frigates, was clapped on board by two of these at once, but beat them both off. I know not what might be the loss of the Portuguese on this occasion, but two of our men were slain, and seven wounded; yet, had not our black rowers forsaken them, our people might easily have taken the assailants.
The 14th, the Persians sprung another mine, by which a very assailable breach was made, yet no assault was attempted. On this occasion, the mine had to be sprung before it was quite ready, because the Portuguese had already come so near it with a counter mine, that the Persians were afraid of their mine being rendered useless before they could place their powder. Another deserter came from the castle on the 15th, who confirmed the report given by the former, and told us that the two frigates which had assailed ours had come from Muskat, with the son of the deceased Don Francisco de Sousa, late governor of the castle of Ormus, who had come on purpose to carry away his mother and other women from the castle.
At this time, the Moors who had surrendered to us from the castle of Kismis, were delivered up to the Persian general, at his earnest request, and partly with their own consent, on promise of being pardoned for having served under the Portuguese against their own king and country, and of being provided for and employed in the siege of Ormus. He seemed to ratify this promise, both to them and us, by entertaining some of their chiefs in our presence, with much apparent courtesy, even giving fine new vests to five or six of the principal officers. Yet next morning he caused eighty of their heads to be cut off, and sent the five or six newly-vested chiefs to the Khan at Gambroon, to receive their final doom, which was soon settled, as they were sentenced to the same fate with their fellows. Mir Senadine, their chief captain, was executed by the hands of Shere Alli, governor of Mogustan, who had married his daughter, and yet put his father-in-law to death with as much willingness as if he had been his mortal enemy.
The 17th of April, the Persians sprung another mine, closely adjoining their first. This did not produce the effect expected, as it burst out at the side, carrying part of the wall along with it, yet did little or no harm upwards, which was the point aimed at, on purpose to widen the former breach. Yet it encouraged the Persian general to try another assault, with at least 2000 soldiers. They ran up the breach with great resolution, into part of a bulwark or bastion, which they might easily have gained, had not their haste run their resolution out of breath; insomuch, that eight or ten Portuguese, assisted by a few blacks, armed only with rapiers, made them give ground and retire to the outer skirt of the bulwark, where there was not room for forty men to face the enemy. They here endeavoured, however, to entrench themselves; but, before they could establish a lodgement, the Portuguese plied two or three pieces of ordnance upon them from a flanking battery, which sent some scores of the Persians with news to their prophet Mortus Alli that more of his disciples would shortly be with them. This accordingly was the case, chiefly owing to their own ignorance and cowardice; for, had they not made a stand in that place, but rushed pell-mell along with the Portuguese into the castle, they might have carried it with less than half the loss they sustained that day to little purpose. Had I not been an eye-witness, I could hardly have believed the stupid ignorance of the Persian general on this occasion. He had two breaches, almost equally good, yet applied all his men to the assault of one only, instead of attempting both at one time. Besides, he had at least eighty or an hundred scaling-ladders, yet not one of them was brought near the castle walls. His soldiers hung clustering on the breach, like a swarm of bees, or a flock of sheep at a gap, none having the heart to enter, while the Portuguese gleaned away five or six at a shot, sometimes more, driving forwards their black soldiers to throw powder-pots among the Persians.
The assault was renewed on the 18th, but with more harm to the Persians than the Portuguese. During the intervening night, two blacks made signs to the Persians on the top of the breach, that they wished to come over to them, and were drawn up with ropes. By these it was learned that the captain of the castle had been wounded in the head by a stone; that there were not above an hundred men in the garrison able to handle their arms: and that their water grew daily more scanty and worse in quality, by which the mortality continually increased. They reported also that great difference in opinion prevailed among the Portuguese, some wishing to endeavour to escape by sea, while others held it more honourable to sell their lives at a dear rate, by defending the castle to the last extremity, and proposed, when they could no longer hold out, to put all their women and treasure into a house and blow them up, that the Persians might neither enjoy their wealth nor abuse their wives; and, when this was done, to rush upon the Persians, and so end their days.
In the evening of the 19th, the Persians made another effort to press forwards, and got possession of the entire bulwark, forcing the Portuguese to retire farther within the castle. In this conflict many of the Portuguese were wounded, and sore scalded with fire-pots, in the management of which the Persians had now become expert, though many of them had paid dearly for their instruction. In this conflict four Portuguese were slain, and their heads brought to the Persian general. In this art of cutting off heads, the Persians are particularly cunning, insomuch, that I do not think there is an executioner in all Germany that can excel them. No sooner does a Persian lay hold of an enemy, than off goes his head at one blow of his scymitar.[308] He then makes a hole in the ear or cheek with his dagger, by which he will sometimes bring three or four heads at once to his general. When it is proposed to send these heads taken in war to be seen by the king or the khan, they very adroitly flea off the skin of the head and face, which they stuff up with straw like a foot-ball, and so send them by whole sackfulls.[309]
[Footnote 308: This, however, is to the praise of the Persians, as good swordsmen, on which account the Turks fear coming to hand blows with them.--Purch.]
[Footnote 309: In Turkey they manage this barbarous trophy of success more conveniently, as the Grand Signior is satisfied with a display of the ears of his enemies preserved in salt.--E.]
This night, one of the frigates that came from Muskat for Douna de Sousa, made her escape, no doubt very richly freighted. Her consort, which likewise attempted to get away, was chased in again. That which escaped, being hailed by the Arab boats that lay in wait to intercept the passage, got off by using the watch-word usual between the English and Arabs, Ingres ingresses, which had not been once changed since the commencement of this enterprize, in which oversight both the Persians and English were highly blameable, as, by the continual use of this watch-word, it had come to the knowledge of the Portuguese, who thus used it to their great benefit.