Important Treaties.

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their magazine. This act brought down a terrible vengeance upon them; for Cabral, in punishment of this act of treachery, destroyed all the Arabian vessels in the port, battered down a part of the city, and, setting fire to the rest, seized on many valuable commodities, as indemnity for his own losses. This circumstance very materially altered the ideas of the Portuguese as to the mode in which their future dealings with this country should be carried on; and it was to the reports and advice of Cabral that their change of policy is chiefly due. He entered into negotiations with several Indian princes, tributaries of the Zamorin, but whose desire for independence led them to entertain most eagerly the Portuguese projects (cunningly devised to flatter this wish), backed, too, as they were, by magnificent promises. The admiral agreed to lend them the support of his powerful nation in carrying out their views, on condition of their acknowledging themselves the vassals of its crown, selling their commodities to its subjects at Portuguese valuation, and permitting a Portuguese fortress to be erected in each principal city; it was farther agreed, that no other merchants should load a cargo till the Portuguese were served, and that no vessels should navigate their seas unfurnished with their passports. The ambassadors of these various states were received on board the European ships, to be conveyed to Portugal, with the view of ratifying such important treaties; and Cabral, having laden his vessels, set sail for his own country, A.D. 1502.

Wonderful as had been the discoveries of Columbus, they had neither fulfilled the promises of their projector, nor the expectations of the Spaniards; the voyages of

the Portuguese navigators had, on the other hand, been not merely brilliant, but attended with the most extraordinary success. The return of Alvarez de Cabral and his fleet, laden with commodities equally precious and desirable, was an event which filled Portugal with joy, and the news spread rapidly over Europe. It became evident of what importance must be an extended and direct commerce with countries so rich in natural productions, and where the arts and elegancies of life were carried to such high perfection. The intelligence brought volunteers and adventurers from every part, anxious to visit lands boasting such treasures; and it aroused, moreover, in more than one nation, a resolution to share at no distant period, in so lucrative a trade. That King Manoel was fully alive to the importance of taking advantage of the position in which a happy train of circumstances had placed him, is clear from the strength of the next expedition to the Indian seas, and the instructions furnished to its commander.

It was in the year 1506, that a formidable fleet commanded by experienced officers, departed on the important errand of consolidating the Portuguese power in India. General Affonzo de Albuquerque, into whose hands the conduct of the measures for this object was committed, was the most eminent military and political personage who had as yet appeared in this service. His mission was one of the most delicate, and even dangerous character, for, following up the ideas suggested by Cabral, and to which we before alluded, the Portuguese government had resolved on excluding all other nations from participating in the Indian trade.

For this object, it was requisite to command the

Affonzo de Albuquerque.

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entrances to all those channels by which Europe had been hitherto supplied with the merchandise of the Eastern continent; the Persian and Arabian Gulfs were to be mastered by the seizure of such stations as should command their respective inlets, and even the mouths of the great rivers were to be secured and guarded. Albuquerque was fully aware that he should meet with the fiercest opposition from the Arabians, whose trade he would be thus breaking into and ruining; but, confiding in the ardour of his men, adventurers from almost every country in Europe, he proceeded with confidence to the carrying his great schemes into execution.

Albuquerque's primary object was to firmly establish the Portuguese power on the Malabar coast, where his countrymen had first landed in India; the conduct of the Zamorin towards them furnishing sufficient pretext for a descent. Calicut yielded to his arms with trifling resistance, and the important city of Goa, in spite of a more formidable defence, was carried by assault. But not satisfied with the capture of those places, the limits of the previous expedition, he resolved to push his fortunes and discoveries considerably more eastward, where, as he rightly imagined, richer prizes were to be obtained. Sailing round Cape Comorin, he made several descents and acquisitions on the Coromandel coast, where he planted forts; and scouring the regions round the Bay of Bengal, arrived at the city of Malacca, the seat of the trade carried on among those populous regions of Asia, which Europeans are accustomed to designate the "East Indies." Malacca was at that period one of the most opulent places of the Indian Seas. Situated at about an equal distance from