is cousin, and
Antonio de Saldanha, the last of whom was ordered to explore the
African coast and gave his name to Saldanha Bay. Francisco de
Albuquerque, who arrived first in India, was only just in time to
succour the Raja of Cochin. The Zamorin of Calicut, as Vasco da Gama
had foreseen, had attacked the Raja of Cochin in force, at the
instigation of the Moplas, as soon as Sodre's squadron had left the
Malabar coast. The situation of the Cochin Raja was one of peril. He
had been driven from his capital and was being besieged in the island
of Vypin, and he welcomed the arrival of the ships of Francisco de
Albuquerque with cries of joy.

The Portuguese met with little difficulty in {31} defeating the army
of the Zamorin and in restoring their ally, the Raja of Cochin, to
his dominions. But the extremity of the danger had been such that the
two Albuquerques built a strong fort of wood and mud, mounted with
artillery, at Cochin; and when they departed they left behind them
not only a squadron of war-ships, as Vasco da Gama had done in the
previous year, but also a garrison of trained soldiers for the new
fort, both under the command of Duarte Pacheco. The two cousins
Albuquerque had more than one difference of opinion, and Affonso,
after sailing to Quilon, where he made a treaty with the Rani and
established a factory, returned to Portugal with his squadron,
without waiting for Francisco.

No more valiant warrior illustrated the glory of the Portuguese name
than Pacheco. The Zamorin of Calicut, as soon as the Albuquerques had
left the coast, advanced against Cochin with a more powerful army
than he had set on foot in the previous year. Pacheco had only 150
Portuguese soldiers, but nevertheless he inspired perfect confidence
into the mind of his ally, the Cochin Raja. That king, at the request
of the Portuguese commander, abandoned his first idea of deserting
his capital, and placed all his resources at the disposition of
Pacheco, who repulsed every assault which the Zamorin made upon
Cochin, and defeated his troops in four pitched battles beneath the
walls of the city. The valour of the Portuguese greatly impressed the
Zamorin, who witnessed the last of these battles, and the Hindu ruler
soon repented his {32} compliance with the demands of the Mopla
merchants.

After defeating the Calicut troops on land Pacheco took the personal
command of his squadron at sea, and defeated the Calicut fleet of
fifty-two ships. The n