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 Chai'. A'II] CABRAL'S EXPEDITION. 165

reception, and completed an arrangement by which a regular Portuguese factory a.d. liou. was established in Calicut, under the charge of his brother, Ayres Correa This factor seems to have been very inditlerently qualified for his office; and allowed himself to be imposed upon at all hands, and more especially by the Moors, M'ho had never ceased their intrijjues from the first moment when the Portusfuese made their appearance At their instigation some hostile manifestations were made, particularly by Khoja Comireci, the admiral of Calicut ; and appejwances became so alarming that Cabral deemed it necessary to quit the harbour, and stood out to sea. The zamorin expi'essed deep and apparently sincere regret at the cause of Cabral's removal, and showed a willingness to take whatever steps miglit be necessaiy to restore confidence. He gave orders to prevent the ijiterference of the Moors, removed an officer whom he had placed in the factory, and substituted another, who, he thought, would be more acceptable. He even took the still more decided step of removing the factory from a locality which gave the Moors too great control over it, and gave the Portuguese a perpetual grant of a new house more conveniently situated near the sea-shore. The good effect of these measures was soon visible; and the Portuguese walked the streets of Calicut as safely, and as free from molestation, as if they had been in Lisbon.

The Mooi-s, whose resources in intrigue were inexhaustible, determined to Moorish break up this understanding, and tried to effect it by a rather singular expedient. Availino- themselves of the vindictive feelings of the officer who had been removed horn the Portuguese factory, they employed him to persuade Correa that Cabral could not confer a greater service on the zamorin than to capture a large ship, which was bound from Ceylon to Cambay or Gujerat, with elephants. One of these animals, which the zamorin coveted, had been refused ; and as he had thus been unable to obtain it by ftm- means, he would be very glad to obtain it anyhow. The Moors calculated that the master of the vessel, whom they had put on his guard, would be more than a match for the Portu- guese admiral, and, at all events, that the Portuguese, by attacking a vessel with which they had no proper ground of quarrel, would justify the reputation M'hich they had given them as mere depredators. Cabral fell too easily into the snai*e thus laid for him ; but, ai"ter discovering the trick, made the best reparation he could, by restoring the vessel to its owners.

The Moors, disappointed in their object, resumed their former practices, and rortugue-

1 1 • • 1 i> 1 T« 1 • factory

threw many obstructions in the way of the Portuguese; who, in consequence, saw stormed, the time for their departure a]iproaching while their ships remained unladen, Cabral complained to the zamorin, and was authorized to search the vessels of the Moore and take whatever spices were found in them, only paying the original cost prices. The Moors were too numerous and influential to be thus summarily dealt with ; and on one of their ships being seized, obtamed permis- sion from the fickle zamorin to retaliate. They took measui-es accordingly; and