were to join at the bridge, which unites the two
parts of the town. The principal defences of tne
enemy were at that bridge. It was fortified by
artillery, by a wooden tower, and by ditches. The
Portuguese met with little resistance until they arrived
at this place, which was defended by Aladin
the hereditary prince, and by his brother-in-law
the king of Pahang. The viceroy led one of the
divisions in person, stormed and carried the bridge.
Don John de Lima commanded the other, and was
opposed by Aladin and the king of Pahang in front,
while the king of Malacca in person, mounted on
an elephant, and supported by others, fell upon his
rear. The Portuguese opened their ranks for the
elephants, turned round and wounded them with
their lances. These timid animals, as usual, took
fright, and becoming unmanageable, trode down the
ranks of their own combatants, and threw all into
disorder. De Lima, without meeting further resistance,
then proceeded to join Albuquerque, at the
bridge. The action was well-contested, and bloody
at least on one side. Albuquerque, although he had
gained the bridge, was not in a condition to profit
by his success. He had no supply of provisions,
and his troops were exhausted with fatigue,
heat, and thirst. He, therefore, prudently retired
in the course of the night to his fleet, determined
to renew the attack under more favourable circumstances.
Mahomed, as usual with barbarians,
construed thè retreat of the Portuguese into fear j
but, notwithstanding this impression, prudently occupied
histimein strengthening the town, by making
trenches across the streets, and strewing the avenues
With poisoned caltrops* After some delay, and
preparing a vessel to accompany the army with a
Supply of water and provisions, he renewed the
attack. The Portuguese carried the entrenchments
of the toWn with enthusiastic bravery ; and,
passing the bridge, thé governor-general in per-
sbn stormed an entrenched position in the principal
street, where the chief force of the enëmy was
stationed, and Where they made a gallant but ineffectual
resistance.
Albuquerque now gave his attention to fortifying
the bridge, from whence he sent detachments
into the town, which still continued to
resist, With Orders to put the inhabitants to the
SWord. These orders were strictly executed, and
the Streets and. rivers Were choked with thè
dead bodies of the massacred inhabitants, The
king abandoned his palace in the coursé of the
night ; and for three days the city was given up
to plunder. The riches obtained in it, by the Portuguese
accounts, were immense. The fifth part
of the booty, which was the king’s share, amounted
to two hundred thousand crusados of,gold.*
* If there be any truth ¡11 this account, we may conclude