Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/134

 88 FIRST STRUGGLE FOR THE INDIAN SEAS commerce. In both cases lie thoroughly accomplished his task. On his second expedition in 1502, he bom- barded Calicut and destroyed its Arab merchant-fleet. At four other of the Malabar ports (Cochin, Cannanore, Quilon, and Baticala the latter lying north of Canna- nore) he established close commercial relations and left behind factories at two of them, together with a CALICUT, ON THE COAST OF MALABAK, IN 1775. squadron under his flag-captain as Captain-Major of the Indian Sea. At one factory, Cannanore, he landed garrison-guns, balls, and gunpowder by permission of the raja, but buried them out of sight to avoid offence to the natives. Da Gama's successes were, however, stained by cru- elties never to be forgotten. On capturing the Calicut fleet he cut off the hands, ears, and noses of the crews, eight hundred men, and sent them, heaped up with dry