222 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



their bracelets and ear-rings, but in their ruthless haste cut off 

 their arms and ears. 



It was now evident to the King of Portugal that his rule in 

 the East could not be consolidated and extended by the same 

 means which had obtained him his first foothold upon the 

 coast, — chance, intrepidity, and unscrupulous violence. What 

 was required was a carefully conceived system of government, 

 and a man capable of administering it. Emmanuel's choice fell 

 upon Alphonzo d'Albuquerque, whose services in the East had 

 already been meritorious, and to whom, in 1509, he gave the titl© 

 and power of viceroy. Albuquerque, whose courage obtained for 

 him the name of the Portuguese Mars, ranks, by his talents, his 

 severe virtues, and his disinterested zeal, among the greatest 

 men whom the world has produced. He at once formed the 

 plan of founding an empire which should extend from the Per- 

 sian Gulf to the peninsula of Malacca ; and, determining to 

 abandon Calicut, which had thus far been looked upon as the 

 best point for an arsenal, he selected the island of Goa, a little 

 to the north, captured it, and made its admirable harbor a Por- 

 tuguese roadstead and its town a Portuguese capital. He built 

 bazaars and citadels along the coast from north to south, and 

 then turned his eyes towards Malacca, — a magnificent country, 

 ruled by a despot and inhabited by slaves. As we have said, its 

 principal seaport was the central resort of the ships of China, 

 Japan, Bengal, the Philippines and the Moluccas, Coromandel, 

 Persia, Arabia, and Malabar. 



The Portuguese had first visited Malacca two years pre- 

 viously, Emmanuel having sent one Siguiera to make a treaty 

 with the king. He had been perfidiously treated, and Albuquer- 

 que now, in 1511, appeared before the city to call the monarch 

 to account. A long and obstinat e battle resulted in the defeat 

 of the natives and the unconditional surrender of the peninsula. 

 The Kings of Siam, Sumatra, and Pegu sent ambassadors to 

 Albuquerque, asking the honor of his friendship. He built a 



