Page:History of India Vol 7.djvu/81

 ENGLISH SUPREMACY ON THE INDIAN COAST 53 lish, pitched his camp with great state on the shore close to our ships, and amid mutual congratulations and Homeric pledges exchanged his Eastern sword " with hilt of massie gold," wrote Downton, for his own less costly English side-arms. After friendly en- treaties to delay his departure, Captain Downton sailed for Bantam and there died on August 6, 1615; leaving a name never surpassed for endur- ance and skilful val- our. He had estab- lished the supremacy of the English over the : Portuguese on the In- dian coast. Next year, 1616, Captain Keeling ^^^^=1^ boldly entered into a pobtuguesb residents at bantam. treaty with the Zamorin of Calicut to seize the neigh- bouring Portuguese settlements and to hand one of them over to the English. It is not needful to follow step by step the decline of a gallant enemy. If the Portuguese, unwillingly linked to the decaying Spanish monarchy, could no longer conquer, they knew how to die. In 1616 a great carrack, carrying an admiral's flag, fought four smaller English vessels for three days; replying to our sum- mons to surrender that " Don Meneses had promised his master, the King of Spain, not to quit his ship: out of which he might be forced, but never commanded."