Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/194

 liiO

IIIS'I'OKV OF 1M>1A.

[liOOK J.

A I). 1108.

Do (Jama's

Hoooiul visit to tho za- i"<iriii.

King of Por tiigal's letter.

Effect of Moorish intrigues.

light of it and Ijegan to talk indiffereDtly of other matters. The fact wa8 that they had been gained })y the Moorn, who, fearing that their interests might be seriously affected Ijy the opening uj) of a new ti-ade with ?^iro[»e, and the don- sequent decline of that which had hith(rt een carried on hy the Red Sea, were determined to leave no meaas untried to fnistrate the oVjject of the Portu- guese expedition.

When De Gama went to the palace to pay the visit which, according to appointment, should have been paid a day sooner, the effect of the Moorish intrigue was very apparent. He was kept waiting for three hours ; anrl when at last admitted, was told angi'ily by the zamorin that he had waited for him all the day before. He was then asked how it was that, if he came from so great and rich a prince as he represented his king to be, he brought no pr&sent with him, though in every embassy of friendship that must be regarded as a neces- sary credential. De Gama made the best excuse possible in the circumstances, by referring to the uncertain issue of his voyage, which made it imprudent to provide a present which there might V)e no opportunity of delivering, and pro- mising that if he lived to carry home the news of his discovery, a suitable present would certainly arrive. The zamorin, not yet satisfied, observed, "I hear you have a St. Mary in gold, and desire I may have that." De Gama, taken somewhat aback at this demand, replied that the image was not gold, but only wood gilded; and as he attributed his preservation at sea to its influence, he must be excused for not parting with it. The zamorin, quitting the .subject, asked for the two letters, which indeed contained only the same thing in dupli- cate, the one written in Portuguese and the other in Ai-abic. The latter, inter- preted by Monzaide, was in pui-port as follows: — "As soon as it was known to the King of Portugal that the King of Calicut, one of the mightiest princes of all the Indies, was a Christian, he was desirous to cultivate a trade and friendshi]:) with him, for the conveniency of lading spices in his ports; for which, in exchange, the commodities of Portugal should be sent, or else gold and silver, in case his majesty chose the same ; referring it to the general, his ambassador, to make a further report." This letter, and the noble bearing of Yasco de Gama, who throughout the interview behaved in a manner becoming the higli character which he claimed, disabused the mind of the zamorin of the impres- sion received of him throvigh the intrigues of the Moors, who had sedulously circulated a rumour that he was no ambassador, but merely a pu-ate. He there- fore conversed with him in the most friendly manner, and gave him full liberty to bring any merchandise he had with him ashore and dispose of it to the best advantage.

The next day, the 31st of May, De Gama prepared to return to his ships, and was actiially on the way to Pandarane, when the Moors, fearing that if he once got away he would not again return, induced the cotwal, by a large bribe, to hasten after and detain him, so as to afford them an opportunity of disposing