624 
A Defcriftion of the Coafis of 
Laurence de Britto being fenHble that 
Baldaus. he muft exped a formal Siege, refolved 
to ftand the Brunt bravely, and fent his 
^'"'^ Meflengers to Almeyda^ to defire prompt 
ALmeyda. Succours. In the mean time the King ot 
' Ci?K^i«o>' was not idle, but having entren- 
ched himfelf near the Harbour, all along 
the Sea-fide he erefted certain Forts, to 
cut off the Communication betwixt the 
City and Caftle : At the fame time being 
reinforced by 200C0 Men, fent from Cale- 
cut, they now refolved upon a formal 
Siege. There was a certain Spring be- 
twixt the City and Caftle, which being 
the only one whence the Fo)'fMgMe/c Gar i- 
fon could be fupply'd with frelh Water, 
this occafion'd frequent and bloody Skir- 
milhes, fo that they were forc'd to pur- 
chafe their Water with much efFufion of 
Blood. Laurence Britto had with him in 
the Fort a certain Mathematician, named 
The spring ThomdA Ferdinand, by whofe Advice they 
wasapcr- digged from the Fort underground to the 
dok'Jill Spring, and by Pipes conveyed it to the 
in the For- Place where they had occalion for it, 
tlficatms. fo that after having fupplied their own 
Wants, they ftopt in the next Sally the 
Spring, fothat the ^oo»'5 were forc'd to 
remove their Camp from thence, but 
they in the Fort enjoyed thq Benefit there- 
of. They then began their Attack on the 
other fide, and by the help of Sacks filled 
- with Cotton, advancing to the Ditch, 
fill'd it with Faggots, and made a fierce 
Afl^ault •, but being bravely repulfed by 
the Partuguefes^ and forc'd to retreat, 
thefe fally'd out upon them, and made a 
great Slaughter of the Barbarians. 
Thefe finding that Force was not like- 
ly to do their Bufinefs, refolv'd to reduce 
it by Famine, knowing that the Winter 
Seafons would cut off all hopes of Relief 
to the Befieged. On the other hand the 
Portugueses made many fuccefsful Sallies 
upon them i in one of which a.CaJiilian, 
nam'd Guadalajara, charg'd with 1 50 Men 
a ftrong Body of tlie Enemy, killing above 
300 of them upon the Spot, and taking 
fomc of their great Cannon. Soon after 
it happen'd unfortunately for the Portu- 
guefes,that a Fire arifing in the Fort by the 
carelefnefs of a Slave, fome part of their 
Magazines of Provifions was confum'd, 
G'cat Dif- whereby a great Scarcity being occafion'd 
p^rh"^"^ in the Fort, many Negroes run over to 
the Enemy, and gave them a full account 
of the cofndition of the Garifon, who 
were now forc'd to feed upon Cats, Rats, 
Mice, &e. At laft Heaven was pleas'd 
to commiferate the miTerable State of the 
Portugueses, by fending a prodigious 
quantity of Locufts from the Sea (a 
thing not unfrequent in thofe Parts) which 
fervM them both for Food and RefreOi- 
ment. The Spring beginning to ap- 
proach, when the Sammoryn fearing the 
Befieged might be fhortly reliev'd by their 
Countrymen, redoubled his Furyagainfl: 
the Fort ; and having fent them divers 
conliderable Supplys of Men (which had 
increas'd his Army to 50000 Men) he re- 
folv'd to try his utmoll to reduce them 
by Force (the Portuguefes being in the 
mean while fupply'd with Provifions by 
a certain Prince of the Country, an E- 
nemy to the Sammoryn) De Britto having 
received Intelligence that the Enemy 
were preparing for a general Aflault, / 
took care to guard all the Avenues both 
on the Sea and Landfide. The Moon 
alTaulted the Portuguefes with their utmolt 
Fury,proraifing themielves an afliir'd Vic- 
tory, by reafon they continually reliev'd 
their Men with frelh Troops ; but the 
Portuguefes receiv'd them fo warmly, 
that after a fmart Fight they put them to ^^^^^ 
the Rout, and purfuing them with great thKkg 
Slaughter, the King of Cananor thought of Caiia- 
ithisbeft way to make Peace with the nor* 
Portuguefes. 
Thus much of Cananor whilft in the 
Hands of the Portuguefes ; the next thing 
which falls under our Confideration is, 
how it came to fall into the Hands of the 
Hollanders. Thefe having made them- Uowd- 
felves Mailers of Cranganor, Cochin, and nanorw^w 
Coulang, fail'd 1663. from Cochin with a ^'^'^<^^^ 
confiderable Fleet, and a good Number of '^^^"^ 
Land Forces, under the Command of 
Jacob Huflar^ Peter du Pon^ Henry van 
Rhede, and divers^other brave Officers, 
for Cananor. Having landed their Men, 
and foon made themfelves Mailers of the 
City (which was without defence) they 
batter'd the Fort with their great Cannon, 
but without any great Succefs: theBalli- 
ons and Ditches on the Land fide being 
cut out of the Rocks, and the Fortificati- 
ons to the Sea fide impregnable. Hovf- 
cvcr after a Siege of few days the Porfx^- 
guefes confidering, that by the taking of 
Cochin all hopes of Relief were baniih'd, 
they furrendred upon honourable Terms ; cananor 
and the Dutch having put a Garifon of furrendred 
200 Men in the Fort, entr'd into a ftridt ^» ^'^^ 
Alliance with the King of Cananor, ^^"^^ 
166^. 
CHAP. 
