Page 36 - History of Portuguese in the Gulf_Neat

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lxiv INTRODUCTION.
favourable dismissal given to them by the Count, since all was
redounding in peace and quiet for that fortress with that neigh­
bour, which had always been the one that was feared most of all.1
Wherefore the captain, who at that time was Fernilo de Albu­
querque,2 ordered them at once to be embarked in a very fine
galliot, and entrusted the ambassadors to Afionso Vicente, a cosado3
of Malaca, whom he chose as ambassador to send to that king, to
hand over to him his people, and to transact affairs of importance :
this Affonso Vicente was known to that king, and with him went
Fr. Amaro, a monk of the order of the Father Saint Augustine,
because he was versed in the language, and of good parts,
and capable of transacting affairs of such importance, This
galliot found at the bar of Achem two Dutch ships4 of the
company of those which I have already mentioned as having
fought with the ships of D. Jeronymo Coutinho at the island of
Santa Helena,5 which were there taking in cargo, which was
supplied to them with great readiness, on account of the liberality
with which they paid for everything. The galliot entered the
bar, and our ambassador disembarked hand in hand with the
ambassadors of the Achem, and accompanied by the Portuguese
and by many persons whom the king sent to receive them, and
they had an audience of him, who received our envoys with many
honours, and his own according to their custom. And having
received from his ambassadors an account of their embassy, and
of the good dispatch that the Count Viceroy had given them, and
of the honours that he had done to them, and the present that he
1 In his previous Decades, Couto describes the frequent engage­
ments between the Portuguese and Achinese. Fulke Greville, in his
letter of March ioth, 1600, to Sir Francis Walsingham (quoted in
Bruce’s Annals, vol. i, pp. 121-126) says :—“The iland of Sumatra, or
Taprobuna, is possessed by many kynges, enemies to the Portugals ;
the cheif is the Kinge of Dachem, who beseiged them in Malacca,
and wth his gallies stopped the passage of victualls and traflickc from
China, Japan, and Molucco, till, by a mayne fleete, the coast was
cleared [This is a mistake : it was the rdja of Johor that blockaded
Malacca, as mentioned above, p. vii]. The Kinge of Spaigne, in
regarde of the importance of this passage, hath often resolved to
conquere Sumatra; but yet nothinge is done.” He adds: “The
Kinges of Acheyn and Tor are, in lyke sorte, enemies to the
Portugals” (“Tor” is a misprint for “ Ior”=Johor, and “Acheyn” is,
of course, the same as “ Dachem”).
* See infra. 3 See supra, p. li, n.
4 Davis says : “ Here was also a Portugal!, named Don Alfonso
Vincent, that came with foure Barkes from Malacca, to prevent our
trade, as the scquell doth show” (Voyages of John Davis, p. 140).
Apparently, therefore, Affonso Vicente arrived at Achin almost
simultaneously with the two Dutch ships.
5 See infra, pp. lxix-lxxi.
il
INTRODUCTION. Ixv |
had sent him, he was so gratified that he knew not what honours
and favours to show to our people. Our ambassador, who was a i
shrewd man, seeing the favours that that king showed towards the ' !>;
j:
Portuguese, and recognising therein the state of mind and 1 i
inclination to grant him all he might ask of him, being one day
alone with the king and the interpreter, said to him, that since he
showed such signs of favour to the Portuguese, and knew very well f!;
how much they desired to preserve his friendship, that it must < !
always be of greater profit to him, as neighbours, than that of
strangers, and that it was time to show it by deeds: that he had
to inform him that those corsairs that were at the bar were pirates, i!
and traitors who had risen against their rightful king and lord :
that since he professed himself such a servant and friend of the
King of Portugal, he had in his hands a very good opportunity
for proving this. This was, that as those men were being
admitted so freely to him and to his country, he should continue 13!
on the same terms with them; and that he should one day invite i
the captain-major and the chief men of the ships, and that at the
banquet they should murder them. And that he should order to
be held in readiness the fleet that he had determined to send
against the King of Jor, which consisted of more than a hun­
dred vessels, and at the same time attack the ships, and capture
them with the whole of the stores and money that they had ;■
on board, which was much. And such things did Affonso :
Vicente say to the king, and so easy did he make the affair i
for him, that he won him over, and succeeded in gaining what he
wished.1
For this purpose he at once, with the greatest dissimulation !<
possible, ordered the fleet to be got ready, at the same time
spreading about the report that it was to be sent against the king )
of Jor, for which expedition these same Hollanders had offered
their services in exchange for a shipload of pepper, which he had ) -
promised therefor.2 And when all was ready, he invited the
Dutch captain-major for the appointed day, from which he ex-
1 Davis states, that on the 20th of July “our Haase [/.*., C. de
Houtman] beeing with the King was exceeding well entertained,” and I
that, among other things, the king said to him : “ I must further tell
you, Alfonso hath been earnest with me to betray you, but it shall not
be ; for I am your friend ; and therewith gave him a Purse of Gold”
(op. cit., p. 141). The king seems to have played a double part in
this tragical affair.
2 Davis says, that the king’s conversation with De Houtman,
referred to in the previous footnote, ended thus :— “As touchingc your
Merchandize it shall be thus : I have warres with the King of lor
(this Kingdome of lor is the south-point of Malacca) you shall serve
against him with your ships : your recompcnce shall be your
me
lading of Pepper ; this was agreed” (op. cit.y p. 142).
/