Moor who equipped
them, named Timoja.... This Moor committed great robberies at sea
upon all that he fell in with, and this Moor was a foreigner and
paid part of the plunder to the King of Gersoppa, who was ruler of
the country.'[5]

[Footnote 5: _The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama_, translated from
Correa's _Lendas da India_: Hakluyt Soc. 1869, p. 309.]

Vasco da Gama had on this information burnt various ships belonging
to Timoja. But the native chieftain seems to have borne the
Portuguese no ill feeling for this, and entered into very friendly
relations with Dom Francisco de Almeida, the Viceroy. He had written
to Albuquerque before the ill-fated attack upon Calicut, begging the
Governor to direct his fleet against Goa, and while Albuquerque was
on his way on this occasion to the Red Sea, Timoja arrived to parley
with him at Mergeu.

{72} 'This man,' it is said in the _Commentaries_ of Albuquerque,
'was a Hindu by birth, very obedient to the interests of the King
of Portugal; and being a man of low origin had, as a corsair,
raised himself to a position of great honour.'[6]

[Footnote 6: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. p. 81.]

He informed Albuquerque that the Lord of Goa was dead, and that great
dissensions had arisen among his nobles, which left a very favourable
opportunity for an attack on the city. The Governor called a council
of his captains, and after considering Timoja's arguments it was
unanimously resolved to put off the expedition to the Red Sea and to
attack Goa.

The capture of Goa is perhaps the most important event of
Albuquerque's administration, and the reasons which led to it deserve
special consideration. The island of Goa was situated upon the
Malabar coast about half way between Bombay and Cape Comorin. It was
formed by the mouths of two rivers and was thus easily fitted for
defence. At the time of its capture there was a bar at the mouth of
the harbour, allowing in full flood ships drawing three fathoms of
water to enter, and the anchorage inside was absolutely safe. It had
always been the centre of an important trade, and was visited by
merchants of many nationalities. By some authorities its trade is
represented as larger than that of Calicut, and at any rate it was
but slightly inferior. From its situation, and the ease with which it
could be fortified, it was well fitted to become the capital of the
Portuguese in India.

Albuquerque's ideas, as has already b