Manuel in honour of the king of Portugal, the captain-
general with all his people made a solemn procession, in which the vicar
of the fort bore the crucifix under a canopy carried by the captains of
the fleet, preceded by trumpets and other instruments of music. The fort
was solemnly blessed, and consecrated by the celebration of mass; after
which friar Gaston preached a sermon, in which he exhorted his hearers to
be thankful to God, who had permitted the inhabitants of the small western
kingdom of Portugal to construct a fortress in this distant region, among
so many enemies of the Catholic faith. He expressed a hope that this might
be the forerunner of many other establishments of a similar nature, to the
advancement of the true religion among the heathen, and the glory of
Portugal. He likewise desired his hearers to keep always in mind the high
obligations they owed to the rajah for the good service he had rendered to
the king of Portugal on this occasion. A faithful report was carried to
the rajah of this part of the discourse, who was much gratified, and gave
thanks for the same to the two generals.

After completing the fort, the Portuguese renewed the war, and made an
attack on two towns belonging to the lord of Repelim on the coast, about
five leagues from Cochin, having learned from spies that they were but
slightly garrisoned. On this expedition the generals took a body of seven
hundred men, and departing from Cochin about two hours before day, they
arrived at their destination about nine o'clock next morning. These towns
had a population of six thousand people, besides children, and were only
defended by three hundred nayres, all bowmen. Alonso de Albuquerque with
part of the forces landed at the nearest town, and Francisco with the
remainder of the forces at the other, which was only about a cannon-shot
distant from the former. In the first town the enemy was completely
surprised and run away, and the place was set on fire without resistance.
On seeing the people run away, our men pursued and slew many of the
fugitives, and when wearied of the pursuit they plundered and destroyed
the country. In the mean time the alarm was spread over the neighbourhood,
and about 6000 nayres assembled, who made an attack upon our men as they
were embarking, so that they were in great danger: In particular, Duarte
Pacheco, not being able to find his boat in the place where he had left it,
was closely pursued; and though he an