fight with the Turks within the fortress. The
decision of this I leave to those who read the lessons of this
history; let them judge which of these two brothers best performed
his obligations.'[11]

[Footnote 11: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 13, 14.]

Another anecdote illustrates Albuquerque's personal admiration of
warlike prowess. Manoel de Lacerda was wounded in the face by an
arrow; but nevertheless he killed a mounted Turk, seized his horse,
and continued to fight with the broken arrow fixed in his face and
his armour covered with blood. At this moment the Turks rallied and
attacked Lacerda's force with 500 men. Albuquerque, on receiving
information of this resistance, came up with his reserve to the point
of danger.

'As soon as Manoel de Lacerda beheld Affonso de Albuquerque, he
dismounted his charger and presented it to him. When Affonso de
Albuquerque saw him with his armour all smirched with blood, he
embraced him and said, "Sir Manoel de Lacerda, I declare to you
that I am greatly envious of you, and so would Alexander the Great
have been, had he been here, for you look more gallant for an
evening's rendezvous than the Emperor Aurelian."'[12]

[Footnote 12: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p. 12.]

The moment the victory was won, Affonso de Albuquerque gave thanks to
God, and promised to erect a church in honour of St. Catherine, whose
feast day is the 25th November, on the site of the gate which had
been so hardly won. He also conferred the honour of {88} knighthood
upon some of the most distinguished of the younger soldiers, among
whom were Frederico Fernandes, who had been the first man to enter
the city, and Manoel da Cunha, a younger son of his former commander,
Tristao da Cunha.

As soon as the Portuguese were in entire possession of Goa,
Albuquerque directed that the Muhammadan population, men, women and
children, should be put to the sword. This cruel butchery is far more
to Albuquerque's discredit than the hanging of Ruy Dias, for which
the poet Camoens so strongly condemns him. It is only partially
justified by Albuquerque's belief that the Muhammadans of Goa had
behaved treacherously towards him in the spring and had admitted
Yusaf Adil Shah into the island. It is more likely that it was mainly
due to Albuquerque's crusading hatred against the religion of the
Prophet. He also gave up the city to plunder, and for three days his
soldiers were occupie