o was next in command, on which
Farete Khan succeeded in the conduct of the siege, and gave the
Portuguese no respite by day or night, continually battering their works
with his powerful artillery. The garrison in Chaul consisted of 1000
men, to which place Alvaro de Abranches brought 300 from Basseen and 200
from Salcete; and being now at the head of 1500 Portuguese troops and an
equal number of natives, so brave and faithful that they often
voluntarily interposed their own bodies to protect their masters,
Abranches appointed a day for making an attack upon the enemy. Having
all confessed, the Portuguese embarked in a number of small vessels and
crossed the river after which they forced their way to the plain of
Morro on the top of the promontary, where the battle was renewed. Ten
elephants were turned loose by the Moors, in expectation that they would
force the Portuguese troops into disorder; but one of these being
severely wounded by a Portuguese soldier, turned back and trampled down
the enemy, till falling into the ditch he made a way like a bridge for
passing over. Another of the elephants forcing his way in at a wicket in
the works of the enemy, enabled the Portuguese to enter likewise, where
they slaughtered the enemy almost without opposition. Some accounts say
that 10,000 men were slain on this occasion, and others say no less than
60,000. Farate Khan with his wife and daughter were made prisoners, and
only 21 Portuguese were slain in this decisive action. The principal
booty consisted of 75 pieces of cannon of extraordinary size, a vast
quantity of ammunition, many horses, and five elephants. Farate Khan
became a Christian before he died, as did his daughter, who was sent to
Portugal, but his wife was ransomed.

[Footnote 418: This unusual name seems from the context to be here given
to the Nizam-al-mulk or sovereign of the Decan.--E.]

SECTION XI.

_Continuation of the Portuguese Transactions in India, from 1597 to
1612_.

In May 1597, Don Francisco de Gama, count of Vidugueyra, grandson to the
discoverer, arrived at Goa as viceroy of India, but carried himself with
so much haughty state that he gained the dislike of all men. During his
government the scourge of the pride and covetousness of the Portuguese
came first into India, as in the month of September news was brought to
Goa that the two first ships of the _Hollanders_ that had ventured to
navigate the Indian seas had been in the port of _Tita