41 



tion, and ih^t the tide of success was now setting 

 with the king^ of Bintang, suddenly changed his 

 line of policy. Without the fornvality of a dccla- 

 Taiion of war, he attacked three vessels, which 

 Albuquerque, trui?ting to his neutrality, had sent 

 to his port for tbe purpose of procuring provisions, 

 of which the garrison of Malacca Blood greatly in 

 need; two of the captain^ and thirty men fell in 

 this treacherous attack, whilst the third, and the 

 remainder of the crew, delayed their fate but a 

 little longer by escaping to Java, where the same 

 scene of treachery wa>i re-enacted. 



Meanwhile, the inve^itment of Malacca was 

 vigorously maintained by the king of Biutang. 

 The fleet was commanded by the redoubtable 

 Lacsamana, and the whole of the force under him 

 con^inted of twenty thousand men : a renegade 

 Portuguese commanded the land forces, whose 

 numerical strength amounted to sixty thousand 

 men. The Portuguese^ who were already suffer- 

 ing from famine, and weakened by the absence of 

 the crews which they had de?^ patched for provi* 

 sioas to Pahaug whence they vainly expected 

 their return, were obliged to witness from the 

 shore the burning of one of their vessels then 

 lying in the roads, without being able to make an 

 effort to rescue it j nay, they were a, p. issts. Utg, 

 compelled to endure yet greater 

 humiliation, for two vessels, sent by the Gover- 

 nor to disperse the enemy's fleet, were obliged 

 to strike the flag of Portugal to it. 



At this critical juncture, which seemed to por- 

 tend the total extinction of the infant Portuguese 



F 



-:jn 5j 



