Page 80 - INDIANNAVYV1

48 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.

the first instance, to go to Jask,* and if, on reaching that port,
he should obtain information that the Portuguese had any force
in the neighbourhood of Ormuz, after kmding the Ambassador
and his suite at Jask, he was to immediately attack them in
that quarter. Having eftected the mercantile and naval purposes
of his voyage in the Gulf of Persia, he was to return to the
Malabar coast, and go down as f;\r as Dabul, the principal town
on a river of the same name, also known as the Anjenwil River,
and there seize on any vessels belonging to ports not subject to
the Mogul Government ; one-sixth part of the prize-money was
to belong to the captain and ships' crew, and the remainder to
be carried to the Company's account.f
To obtain the assistance of the English against the Portu-
guese, the Mogul Emperor, who entertained a high opinion of the
prowess of the officers and crews of the Company's ships, granted
a firman to the President at Surat on April 5, 1629, authorising him
to make reprisals on all ships of that nationality, both at sea and
in port, within his dominions ; and also intimated that he would
require the assistance of the Company's ships in the following
season. In September, 1630, a squadron of five sail arrived
from England, having on board large supplies, which had been
solicited by the President at Surat, to enable him to carry out
the wishes of the Mogul Government. But the Portuguese
Viceroy, having also received, in the preceding April, a rein-
forcement of nine ships and two thousand soldiers, resolved to
anticipate the Company in their hostile intentions, and pro-
jected the recapture of Ormuz.
His first measure, says Bruce, was to request the Governor of
Surat, to use his influence with the Mogul Emperor, to expel
^the English and the Dutch from his dominions, to admit the
Portuguese to settle at Surat, and to have the exclusive trade of
that port granted to them. On the rejection of this application,
he resolved to employ forcible measures, in which, however, he
w^as not more successful. The Portuguese fleet, commanded b}^
Don Francisco Coutinho, tried to prevent the entrance of the
English ships into Swally, when a sharp action ensued, in which
the Company's ships had the advantage. This action was
followed by frequent skirmishes, both at sea and on shore, the
English still being successful in maintaining their ground.
Irritated by failure, the Portuguese Admiral made an unsuc-
cessful attempt to destroy the English ships, by fire ; but,
notwithstanding all his eflorts, the latter succeeded in landing
their cargoes.
* In Arrian's account of the voyage of Nearchus' fleet from the mouth of the
Indus up the Persian Gulf, Cape Jask is called Bardis. It was while Alexander's
fleet lay here that the controversy arose between Nearchus and Onesicritus, the
" Captain of the Royal galley," as the historian calls him, who proposed that
they should steer for Cape Mussendom, and coast along the shores of the Indian
Ocean.
t " Brace's Annals," vol. i., p. 2S9.