76 THE CAPTURE OF MALACCA, A.D. 1511. 
the attacking Portuguese, who were burdened with the weight of 
their armour, and exhausted by the heat of the sun and by the fire 
and smoke from the burning houses. Again and again, with 
diminishing forces, did the Prince Alaedin lead out his men in 
sudden rushes and win momentary success, only to be repulsed in 
the end. So too, now and again from the upper reaches of the 
river, did the Laksamana Hang Nadim send down his war-canoes 
or fireships to take the enemy in the rear or harass his communi- 
cations—all to no avail. Night separated the combatants; and the 
Portuguese retreated to their ships, saddened by their heavy losses 
and by their consciousness that the work of destruction was only 
half accomplished. 
On the following day tne Viceroy disembarked his men once 
more and prozeeded with every precaution to assail the smoking 
ruins that had covered the resistance of the last two days. He 
found no one to oppose him. Prince Alaedin and his J.iaksamana 
had retreated up the river and were awaiting attack at Pagoh on a 
battlefield of their own choosing. The Prince of Pahang had gone 
back to his own country as the fighting had lost all attraction for 
him. The Sultan had seen the burning of the palace and was not 
sure that his policy of lazy neutrality would justify him in meeting 
the Viceroy face to face; he removed himself with all possible 
despatch beyond the reach of any Portuguese marauding party. 
The aged bedridden Bendahara who had succeeded the murdered 
Mutahir was borne off in a litter by his loving relatives while he 
invoked curses on the cowardice of a generation that was not as the 
warriors of his youth. The Malay power was broken. The 
Javanese, Burmese and Indian merchants were for peace at any 
price and hastened to make their submission to the Viceroy, and, 
as an earnest of their goodwill, helped him to dislodge the Prince 
Alaedin from his chosen lair at Pagoh. The prince fled far away ; 
a few seattered bands of outlaws represented all that was left of the 
famous Malay empire of Malacca. 
Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc. No. 61, 1912. . 
