VASCO DE OAMA» 
S65 
armament with singular pleasure. The houses 
were built of stone, with terraces and windows in 
the Spanish style, so that it appeared to them as 
if they were entering a port of Spain. Their sa- 
tisfaction was greatly augmented, when a boat 
came off with several leading men on board, who 
welcomed them, and assured them of being sup- 
plied with every thing they wanted. It was only 
added, that, according to the law of the place, it 
was necessary that the vessels should first come 
into the harbour. The admiral was by no means 
gratified with this condition ; but in a day or two, 
the necessity of his situation, and the earnest eii- 
treaties of his men, induced him to consent. The 
ships therefore began to move, to the equal joy 
both of Portuguese and Moors, one imagining 
that they were at the end of all their troubles^ 
and the other that their prey was finally secured* 
In this crisis the expedition was saved by an in- 
terposition, which the historian hesitates not to 
consider as miraculous. The admiral's vessel 
being in danger of running into shallow water, a 
loud cry was raised for an anchor ; and as the 
casting one, at this era of nautical science, was a 
complicated operation, the Portuguese ran from 
all quarters to the spot. The Moors, imagining 
that these symptoms indicated the discovery of 
their treacherous design, hurried to their boats, 
and some even leaped into the sea, and gained 
