Page 251 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

THE ENGLISH IN THE PERSIAN GULF 251

son at Kislim was under the direct command of Ruy Freire.
The appearance of the English fleet off Kishrn had an
immediate effect. Before a shot had been fired, Ruy
Freire sought an accommodation. Monnox, who was sent
ashore to arrange matters, found the Portuguese commander
willing to surrender if he could obtain an assurance of
the safety of the lives of the Persians who had assisted him.
Ruy Freire, on being told that the English could not inter­
fere with this matter, gallantly replied that rather than
hand his allies over to the tender mercies of the Persians
he would die with them. Nor could he be moved from this
determination by a promise subsequently obtained from
the Persian General that their lives should be spared.
On the failure of the negotiations, the English ships com­
menced a bombardment of the fort, but the range proved
too great to make their fire effective. To remove the draw­
back five guns were landed and mounted as close to the
walls of the fort as practicable. They were in charge of
William Baffin, famous in the annals of Arctic exploration
for his bold enterprises in the then little-known region of
the Frozen North. The fire was maintained from these
pieces with such excellent results that a breach was soon
made in the defences. Unhappily, Baffin, who had ex­
posed himself a good deal in his anxiety to achieve success­
ful results, attracted the attention of some Portuguese
sharpshooter. As he was in the act of aiming one of the
guns, he was shot in the stomach and died almost immedi­
ately. His is another example of the life of a navigator
of distinction sacrificed on the altar of patriotism in the
I East in those early days when the history of English
influence in Asia was in the making.
Ruy Freire speedily recognized that his position had

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