ABSTRACT
As soon as this parley was over between the chief captain and the Moor who carried the message, the chief captain at once informed the captains of all that had taken place, and said that his determination was, on the following day before dawn, to attack the city. He ordered them all, therefore, to get themselves ready, and, at the appointed time, come on board his ship, bringing small anchors and long cords with them in the boats, to leave as guides in the sea, that they might not be upset; for, as it was an open harbour, there was a great surf on the shore. The captains spent all the night in preparations, and, when the hour was come, went with their men on board the flag-ship; and, as soon as they had arrived, the chief captain stood in to shore two hours before daybreak, without sounding trumpets, lest they should be heard. The king, meanwhile, dreading that something or other had happened to delay the Moor whom he had sent, but who had brought back no answer, gave orders to watch the beach all night, so that our men 42could not go so quietly but that they were perceived: and many Moors flocked to the shore at once, and did all they could to prevent our landing. And, because they were numerous and the sea very boisterous, our people experienced great difficulty in disembarking. Yet, for all that they were hurled along by the water and half dripping, they attacked the Moors so bravely, that many of them soon lay dead, and those who escaped from their sword fled towards the city. When the chief captain saw they were put to rout, he was unwilling to give those Moors who fled time to rally from the panic into which the sudden attack had cast them; so he ordered Afonso Dalboquerque to take the vanguard in charge and go in pursuit of them, which he accordingly did with the men he had with him. At the entrance into the city the Moors made a stand against our men, and killed about four or five, and wounded Antonio de Sá in the face with an arrow.
