Page 21 - Anglo Portuguese Rivalry in The Gulf_Neat

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authorising him to attack English shipping in the At Muscat he was joined by Constantino de Si, who
Persian Gulf; and this was of great importance to i had been despatched to the relief of Ormuz on the
them, since it went a long way to justify their open 2nd April by the Governor, Fernao de Albuquerque,
hostilities against the Portuguese forts at Kishm and after he had received news at Goa of the loss of Kishm
$ Ormuz, at a time when there was' peace between and siege of Ormuz. The united force of de Si and
England and Spain in Europe. They consequently I Ruy Freyre, only amounted to some fifteen galliots and
1 \ kept a strict watch on their prisoner, but eventually similar light craft, all of which together would not
,i Ruy Freyre succeeded in eluding them by means of the have been a match for any one of the English ships,
following trick. with which flotilla they left Muscat early in May.
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; On the pretext of celebrating Ea9ter day, whilst the They had not been more than one day at sea, when
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Lion was anchored with some other vessels in Swally they fell in with some ships from Ormuz carrying the
roads, he obtained leave from his guardians to send remnants of the garrison to safety, in accordance with
for some wine from the neighbouring Portuguese the terms of the capitulation. • On learning of the fall
settlement at Damao to celebrate the event. He was of the fortress, Ruy Freyre was all for pushing on with
able to arrange for some of this wine to be drugged, and the utmost speed, for he. pointed out that the English
by inducing the ship’s company to partake freely and Persians would probably be celebrating their
thereof, they were speedily reduced to a state of coma. success in drunken orgies, and that an unexpected
r Seizing his opportunity, Ruy Freyre (with three attack by -even so small a force as theirs, would have
l;,j. companions) lowered himself by a rope into the skiff every chance of success.1
which was moored astern, ana made for the shore. De S5 however was not made of such stern stuff as
His absence was speedily discovered and a hue and Ruy Freyre, and his heart had never been in the
I cry raised, but although the Governor of Surat sent business at all, as was proved by' the dilatory way in
out some cavalry to1 aid the English in scouring the which he had brought his squadron from Goa. Glad
! hi countryside, the fugitives escaped with the loss of one
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! ; of their number, who was drowned whilst the party skiff moored astern of the ship, and say nothing about the drugged wine.
were swimming across the Tapti River. By ten Beversham was severely taken to task by the directors of the Company, on
i his return to England, and their annoyance was increased by the loss of Ruy
o’clock next morning Ruy Freyre was safe within the Freyre's commission, which would have been a trump card in their hands
walls of Damao, whence he proceeded as speedily as against any complaint by the Spanish Ambassador. They also suspected
;! that Beversham might, have been bribed to let Ruy Freyre escape, as it was
, possible with two small vessels to Muscat, with the : stated he had offered Weddell £1,000 to wink at it. Eventually however,
object of running the blockade of Ormuz in order to Beversham seems to have cleared himself. {Cal. S.P.E.I., 1622-1614, pp.
;•! 134, 136 and 252.) The date of Ruy Freyre’s escape is variously given as
assume command of the beleaguered fortress.1 the 26th March and 2nd April.
lThis was certainly the case, to judge by Monnox’s racy description of the
lThis is the version given in Chapter 42 of the Commentaries and it is • confusion which prevailed in the city and castle during their pillage by the
supported to some extent by a letter written by Ruy Freyre from Dam5o to Anglo-Persian forces, a contest in which the Persians as the more numerous
the President at Surat, acknowledging that he had made his escape owing party easily bore away the palm. Needless to say. the Khan of Shiras had
to the drunkenness of the watch, and pledging his honour to secure tne return no intention of fulfilling the terms of his treaty witn the English by allowing
of the Unicorn's captives. Most contemporary English and Dutch accounts them any share in the government of the place, which remained a purely
agree in ascribing nis escape to the negligence of the watch in leaving the Persian garrison.
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