Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/191

 Chap. VIL] DK GAMA AND THE ZAMOTIIN. 157

districts. Such was the state of matters when the Portuguese arrived, and it is ad hos necessary to attend to it, as furnishing a key to many subsecjuent proceedings.

De Gama having anchored, as ah'eady mentioned, was immediately visited i-in-t land- by some small fishing-boats, and imder their guidance sailed as near to Calicut Portuguese as the depth of water would allow. He had brought several criuiinals from Portugal, whose sentence had been remitted in consideration of the danger to which they were to be exposed by being sent ashore to hold intercom'se with the natives, under circumstances too hazardous to justify tlie em])loyment of any of the crew. One of these criminals was accordingly despatched along with the fishermen, in order that the reception given him might enable De Gama to shape his futm-e com'se. He was immediately surrounded by a crowd whose curiosity could hardly be satisfied, though it was more importunate than rude. As his ignorance of the language made it useless to ask him any questions, they took him to the house of two Moors, one of wliom, called Monzaide — who, from being a native of Tunis, knew him to be Portuguese — gave utterance to his astonishment by exclaiming in Spanish, " The devil take you! What brought you hither r' After some exj)lanations, Monzaide went off with him to the ships, and on approaching De Gama, cried aloud in Spanish, " Good luck 1 good luck! Many rubies, many emeralds! Thou art bound to give God thanks for having brought thee wliere there are all sorts of spices and ]irecious stones, with all the riches of the world." De Gama and his crew were so surprised and affected at meeting with one who could speak their language so far from home, that they wept for joy.

Having learned from Monzaide that the zamorin was then at Ponan}^ a DeCanm village at the mouth of a river of same name, about thii-ty-six miles south from "shore. Calicut, De Gama immediately announced his arrival, intimating at the same time that he was the bearer of a letter to him from his master the King of Portugal, a Christian prince. The zamorin, in aaswer, bade him welcome, and sent a pilot to conduct the ships to a safer anchorage, near a village called Pandarane. He accepted of the services of the pilot, but demurred at first to avail himself of an invitation by the cotwal or chief magistrate, to go ashore and })roceed by land to Calicut. On second thoughts, however, he became con- vinced that tliis was a risk which he ought to run ; and while his brother Paul, who commanded one of the ships, and the other officers, reminded him of the danger to be apprehended, not so much from the natives, whom they insisted on regarding as Christians, as from the Moors, whose deadly enmity they had already experienced on the African coast, he announced his determination, let what would betide him, to go a.shore and leave no means luitried to settle a treaty of commerce and i>er{)etual amity.

On the 28th of May, after leaving orders that in the event of any accident uisfiret befalling him, the vessels were to return home with the news of liis discovery, zilmorin. " he set out in his boat, attended by twelve of his company, with flags waving