ABSTRACT
As soon as Antonio de Saldanha had sailed for Portugal, the chief captain began to repair his fleet, and furnish it with all necessaries, and when all was ready, he started one day at morning, and in a few days arrived at Melinde. When he had entered the harbour, with all his ships having their flags flying, they saluted the city, and anchored, and then he went on shore with all his captains to pay the king a visit, and, on the part of the King of Portugal, made him a present which he brought, and made offer of his service in all that he might demand of him, with many other offerings which he made. The king thanked him very much, and said that he was very thankful to the King of Portugal, his brother, for all the kind messages he had sent him, because he was his true servant and friend. 1 And on this account the Kings of Mombaça and Angoja were his chief enemies, and caused him much annoyance: therefore, he begged that, before the chief captain left those parts, he would take vengeance upon them, that they might know he enjoyed the friendship of the King of Portugal. The chief captain told him, that, since the principal reason of his coming thither was to preserve the ancient friendship which the King of Portugal had with him, he promised him before many days should elapse he should have news of the state his enemies were in. So he took his leave with great show of friendship, and embarked. And Afonso Dalboquerque, on taking his leave of the king, told 35him that the King of Portugal, his lord, had sent him with a fleet to conquer the kingdom of Ormuz, and all that coast of Arabia which had not yet been made known to our pilots; so he begged he would of his favour order three pilots, who had good knowledge of the navigation of those parts, to be given him that he might take them with him, and he would pay them well and treat them as his own subjects. The king ordered the governors of the city to give him the pilots whom he asked for, and whatever else might be necessary for the service of the King of Portugal, his brother. The governors gave him the three principal pilots of the country, who always sailed to those parts, and had good experience of all the harbours of that coast of Arabia. When all had taken their leave of the king, they embarked and set sail, and without putting into any port, they anchored in the bay of Angoja, and as soon as they had anchored, the chief captain sent Lionel Coutinho in his boat to shore to obtain information about the people who were in the place and “about the fortress. The Moors, who were waiting on the beach, as soon as the boat drew near to shore, began to shoot arrows at it, and would not parley with our people. So Lionel Coutinho ordered the boat to be kept off, that the men might not be wounded, and informed the chief captain of what had passed. He, therefore, sent at once for the captains, and told them that he was determined to punish the King of Angoja because of the offences which he had done to the King of Melinde, as well as on account of the slight he had given to his message; so they should all get ready, and on the next day, before morning, should come on board his ship that they might go together and attack the place. When the hour was come, the captains came in their boats on board the flag-ship, and thereupon stood in towards land to attack the city. When the Moors saw the boats coming, they came and awaited them on the beach to prevent their landing. But the chief captain observed their determination, and desiring room for disembarking, 36ordered the bombardiers to fire at them with the small cannons that were in the boats. And the Moors, when they saw they were harassed by the shot, deserted the beach, and having retired together into the city, took their wives and children and as much baggage as they could carry on their backs, and fled into the interior of the country. As soon as the beach was clear, the chief captain disembarked with all the soldiers in two battalions, Afonso Dalboquerque in the van with part of the men, and himself in the rear with the royal flag. And as they met with no resistance when disembarking, they entered the city at once, and found it empty of people and moveables. So the chief captain, who perceived that there was nothing to be feared from any side, ordered the fleet to be furnished with supplies, of which there were plenty there, and gave permission to his men to sack the city, but to return quickly, for he was going to order it to be set on fire. And because at the time it was fired they were not yet returned, and were all scattered up and down in the houses sacking them, they would have been burned too, had it not happened just in the nick of time, that the wind blew from that part to which they were making their way; even when they desired to return, it was only with great difficulty that they managed to do so. As soon as all had returned to the ships, the chief captain ordered that the fleet should set sail, and sailed out of the harbour with the land breeze that was then blowing, and steered in a straight line for Braboa.
