No. 60.— 1908.] 



LIFE OF COUTO. 



13 



I found myself obliged to fulfil it to him : and so in virtue thereof 

 there passed a letter of the said office to the said Domingos de 

 Castilho for it to be confirmed by your majesty. And neverthe- 

 less the said Domingos de Castilho has not the talent for continu- 

 ing the history, and of the subjects over here, of whom, it seems to 

 me, one can take account for this occupation , which must always 

 go united with the said office of guarda mor, I find that the most 

 suitable is the licentiate Nicolao da Silva 1 , who was chief justice 

 of this supreme court, and served with satisfaction both in it as 

 well as in other offices of importance in which he was employed, 

 and is very experienced, and of much learning, and besides these 

 good qualities uniting in his person, and his being well equipped 

 with one thing and another, I shall receive a favour from your 

 majesty 2 in all that you shall be pleased to do to him. God keep, 

 &c. From Goa, 30 December 1616. 



That the king did not confirm the above appointment 

 (though why, we can only surmise) is evident from the follow- 

 ing passage in a letter 3 of 12 February 1620, from the 

 governor Fernao de Albuquerque to the king : — " The office 

 of guarda mor of the Torre do Tombo, which fell vacant by the 

 death of Diogo do Couto, has been badly bestowed upon Gaspar 

 d'Ares 4 , upon whom the count 5 bestowed it on the petition 

 of the city, and it is very important to the service of your 

 majesty to order this office to be bestowed upon a person 

 of understanding, and that he do his duty." What the result 

 of this representation was, I do not know ; but the death of 

 Philip III. in 1521 probably put an end for a time to the idea 



1 Bocarro mentions (cap. xii.) that in 1613 the viceroy and council 

 at Goa resolved to send to Ormuz a person with the powers of veador da 

 fazenda, and chose for that purpose " the licentiate Nicolau da Silva, 

 in whom were united the qualities of intelligence, integrity, good dis- 

 course, and all else that could be desired for such an office." 



2 When D. Jeronimo wrote this the king had probably already 

 given instructions for his arrest and deportation from India in fetters 

 (see Bocarro, cap. lxxxvi.). 



3 Printed from Livro das Monroes 22, fol. 450, in the Chron. de 

 Tissuary, u.s. 



4 I can find no reference elsewhere to this man. 



5 D. Joao Coutinho, Conde de Redondo, who succeeded D. Jeronimo 

 de Azevedo as viceroy in November 1617, and died 10 November 

 1619. 



