ance
intelligence was conveyed to Brito by a nephew to the rajah of Cananor,
who wished to acquire the friendship of the Portuguese, so that Brito
was prepared to receive the intended assault. Having completed their
preparations, the enemy moved on to fill up the ditch and assault the
fort; but were opposed with so much energy, at first by incessant
discharges of cannon, and afterwards by means of a sally, that the ditch
was filled with dead bodies instead of fascines. After losing a
prodigious number of men, the enemy retreated to the wood; and next
night, which was cold and rainy, Brito sent out eighty men to beat up
their quarters under the command of a Spanish officer named Guadalaxara,
who was next in command. This enterprise was so vigorously executed,
that after the discharge of a few small pieces of artillery, the enemy
fled in every direction to save themselves, leaving 300 of their men
slain. The joy for this victory on the side of the Portuguese was soon
miserably abated in consequence of the destruction of their entire
magazine of provisions by fire, by which they were reduced to the
extremity of famine, and under the necessity of feeding on all kinds of
vermin that could be procured. In this extreme distress, they were
providentially relieved by a rough sea throwing up vast quantities of
crabs or lobsters on the point of land where the chapel of the Virgin
stands, which was the only food which could be procured by the garrison
for a long while. While in this situation, in consequence of powerful
assistance from the zamorin, the rajah of Cananor made a fresh assault
upon Brito with 50,000 men, and was again repulsed with prodigious
slaughter, without the loss of one man on the side of the Portuguese.
Immediately after this exploit, Tristan de Cunna arrived at Cananor with
a reinforcement and a supply of provisions, by which and the noble
defence made by Brito the rajah of Cananor was so much intimidated that
he sued for peace, which was granted upon conditions highly honourable
and advantageous to the Portuguese.

As Tristan de Cunna was now ready to depart for Portugal with the
homeward bound ships, the viceroy went along with him to Paniani, a town
belonging to Calicut which he proposed to destroy, as it was much
frequented by the Moors, who took in loadings of spices at that place
under the protection of four ships belonging to the zamorin commanded by
a valiant Moor named Cutiale[97]. The viceroy and Tri