guese. The king of Cambaya set free D. Afonso de Noronha, nephew of Afonso Dalboquerque, and offered the site for a fortress at Diu, and the preparation of a Turkish fleet to operate against the Portuguese was countermanded by the Grand Sultan of Cairo. The letter sent by Dalboquerque to the Hidalcão announcing the capture of Goa, and offering the monopoly of the important trade in horses, also plainly shows the rapid exaltation of Portuguese prestige in consequence of this event. Not long after this, Meliqueaye, (perhaps the Portuguese equivalent of Melek Yahya,) was sent by the Hidalcão against the island, but he and his numerous army were routed without much difficulty, and the erection of the fortress, the colonisation of the newly acquired territory by Hindoo families (a race to whom Afonso Dalboquerque, throughout his career, always manifested great kindness), and the consolidation of the government of the province, for province indeed it was, proceeded rapidly and without interruption.

The advent of the royal Hindoo Merlao (or Milrrhau, as he is called in the latter part of this volume) enabled Afonso Dalboquerque to gratify the native Hindoos and Nequibares, and at the same time to ingratiate himself with them, by conferring upon him the farmergeneralship of the newly acquired territory for about thirty thousand pounds-a considerable sum in those days, and a welcome addition to the revenues of Portugal. But these matters did not cause the Viceroy to forget the other parts of his Indian jurisdiction, and in accordance with Royal instructions he dispatched

Diogo Fernandez de Béja with a fleet of three ships to dismantle the fortress of Socotra.1

The fall of the important city of Goa brought the Çamorin of Calicut to the feet of Afonso Dalboquerque for the time, and his offers of peace resulted in the mission of Simão Rangel, but on the arrival of that ambassador at the Çamorim's court that prince had somewhat recovered from his alarm, and his artifices succeeded in protracting negotiations, which were not to be crowned with success for a long time yet to come,

1 The island was taken possession of by the Portuguese in 1507, but passed from the possession of Portugal to that of the Sultan of Keshin, a small territory on the opposite Arabian coast. This island is off the gulf of Aden, situated about 150 miles N.E. from Cape Guardafum, and extends about seventy or eighty miles from west to east, with an average width of fifteen or twenty miles. It contains 1,300 square miles, consisting chiefly of a table land, which is between 700 or 800 feet above the level of the sea. North and south of the table land are two plains. The northern plain is not so low as the southern, nor so level, the surface being intersected by flat valleys in many places. The western districts of this plain, though less sterile than the southern plain, are more adapted for pastures than for cultivation. The eastern districts have a superior soil, which is a reddish earth, covered in certain seasons with abundant grass, and well adapted for the cultivation of grain, fruit, and vegetables. In most of the northern plains water is found at a depth of from 8 feet to 10 feet below the surface. The climate is sultry. During the north-east monsoon there is an almost daily fall of rain. The island is exposed both to the north-west and north-east monsoons, rendering the anchorages unsafe. There are about 5,000 inhabitants, consisting of two distinct races-namely, Arabs who have settled on the island, and the aboriginal inhabitants, who are Bedouins, wandering from one part of the island to another with their flocks and herds. The principal commercial products are aloes of the finest quality, the dragon's-blood tree, tamarinds,

and Afonso Dalboquerque contented himself with a blockade of Calicut by a small and probably inefficient fleet, which was compelled by the disastrous turn of affairs at Goa to hasten to the relief of the besieged garrison there.

Another Indian potentate, whose policy was manifestly disturbed by the Portuguese successes, was the King of Narsinga, to whom Fray Luiz had been accredited by Afonso Dalboquerque in the previous year.1 This king hastened, after some tergiversation, to conclude an alliance with the Portuguese commander, but Fray Luiz did not live to return, being murdered at the reported instigation of the Hidalcão.

After putting the local government of the city and island of Goa into a satisfactory condition, dedicating the principal church to the patronage of St. Catherine,

tobacco, and various fruits and gums, besides some cotton and indigo. Sheep and goats in the western districts constitute the principal wealth of the inhabitants; the oxen are small. The civet cat and chameleon are found all over the island. Turtles are found on the southern coast. Fish abound on several parts of the coast, and many families live on the produce of their fishing. The capital is Tamarida, with only 100 inhabitants, built not far from the northern shores.

As the island lies almost directly in the line of our communication with India from the Red Sea, it has acquired additional importance by the construction of the Suez Canal, and this consideration has, without doubt, determined the action of the Indian Government, which, in 1876, entered into a treaty by which, for a small subsidy, the Sultan engaged never to cede Socotra to any foreign power, nor to allow any settlement to be made on it without the consent of the British Government. The Indian Government has lately re-occupied the island, and the British flag was rehoisted there not long ago.

1 See vol. II, ch. xvii.

on whose auspicious feast day he had gained the victory, appointing various officers, munitioning the fortress, assisting by beneficent measures the colonisation of the lands, and re-establishing the currency, it was Afonso Dalboquerque's intention to have proceeded without delay to the Red Sea; but two events had transpired which caused him to change his mind, and this change was productive of unexpectedly great and glorious achievements, which added new lustre to the already brilliant career of the Viceroy.

One of these was the circumstance of the continued captivity of Ruy de Araujo and his companions in Malaca against the advice of Ninachatu (or Ninapam, as Correa calls him), the Hindoo adviser of the king of that country, the other the natural desire of Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos, who had come from Portugal under special orders to effect the release of these prisoners, to make his way thither without delay, although Afonso Dalboquerque, in the exercise of his undoubted authority, desired to put off this undertaking for a more convenient opportunity, when a more imposing force than that which Diogo Mendez de Vasconcelos commanded could be mustered for the service. The determined intention and endeavour of Diogo Mendez to separate from the fleet of his superior officer, in direct opposition to orders, did not succeed at the time, yet this act undoubtedly operated with some weight in influencing the subsequent movements of Afonso Dalboquerque, who, finding the winds adverse to his intended voyage to the Red Sea, reversed his course, and after a brief stoppage at Cochim, shaped

VOL. III.

с

his way as straight as he could for Malaca, and brought

up

his fleet at Pedir, on the northern coast of Sumatra. At this port the hopes of the Portuguese were raised in a remarkable degree by the unexpected meeting with João Viegas and eight other members of the little band under the headship of Ruy de Araujo, that had escaped from their durance at Malaca. These men pointed out to Afonso Dalboquerque the complicity of the Moor Naodabegea or Naodabeguea in the plot to destroy Diogo Lopez de Sequeira and his retreat to Pacé, a neighbouring port at which the Portuguese fleet touched, and made ineffectual efforts to get him into the hands of the commander. But on the advance of the fleet towards the waters of Malaca the Moor was overtaken in a pangajaoa, and after a sharp encounter, in which the enemy were worsted, the curious spectacle of the fugitive Naodabegea, severely wounded and nearly dead, but without any blood flowing from his mangled body, presented itself to the astonished eyes of the Portuguese. This apparently unaccountable circumstance was explained by the finding of a bracelet made of the bones of the animal called cabal, a word which appears to be related somewhat too transparently with that signifying horse in many European languages. The peculiar power possessed by this bracelet of preventing the flow of blood from any wounds which the wearer should experience recalls the incident of the magic scabbard of King Arthur's sword, Excalibur. In the Morte d'Arthur we read: "Well,' said the damsel, 'go ye into yonder barge, and row yourself unto the sword, and take it