No More Learning

The emperor reclined on a magnificent couch, surrounded with his
nobility and officers of state. Gama was introduced to him by a
venerable old man, the chief brahmin. His majesty, by a gentle nod,
appointed the admiral to sit on one of the steps of his sofa, and then
demanded his embassy. It was against the custom of his country, Gama
replied, to deliver his instructions in a public assembly; he therefore
desired that the king and a few of his ministers would grant him a
private audience. This was complied with, and Gama, in a manly speech,
set forth the greatness of his sovereign Emmanuel, the fame he had heard
of the zamorim, and the desire he had to enter into an alliance with so
great a prince; nor were the mutual advantages of such a treaty omitted
by the admiral. The zamorim, in reply, professed great esteem for the
friendship of the King of Portugal, and declared his readiness to enter
into a friendly alliance. He then ordered the catual to provide proper
apartments for Gama in his own house; and having promised another
conference, he dismissed the admiral with all the appearance of
sincerity.

The character of this monarch is strongly marked in the history of
Portuguese Asia. Avarice was his ruling passion; he was haughty or mean,
bold or timorous, as his interest rose or fell in the balance of his
judgment; wavering and irresolute whenever the scales seemed doubtful
which to preponderate. He was pleased with the prospect of bringing the
commerce of Europe to his harbours, but he was also influenced by the
threats of the Moors.

Three days elapsed ere Gama was again permitted to see the zamorim. At
this second audience he presented the letter and presents of Emmanuel.
The letter was received with politeness, but the presents were viewed
with an eye of contempt. Gama noticed it, and said he only came to
discover the route to India, and therefore was not charged with valuable
gifts, before the friendship of the state, where they might choose to
traffic, was known. Yet, indeed, he brought the most valuable of all
gifts, the offer of the friendship of his sovereign, and the commerce of
his country.
He then entreated the king not to reveal the contents of
Emmanuel's letter to the Moors; and the king, with great apparent
friendship, desired Gama to guard against the perfidy of that people. At
this time, it is highly probable, the zamorim was sincere.

Every hour since the arrival of the fleet the Moors had held secret
conferences. That one man of it might not return was their purpose; and
every method to accomplish this was meditated. To influence the king
against the Portuguese, to assassinate Gama, to raise a general
insurrection to destroy the foreign navy, and to bribe the catual, were
determined. And the catual (the master of the house where Gama was
lodged) accepted the bribe, and entered into their interest. Of all
these circumstances, however, Gama was apprised by his faithful
interpreter, Monzaida, whose affection to the foreign admiral the Moors
hitherto had not suspected. Thus informed, and having obtained the faith
of an alliance from the sovereign of the first port of India, Gama
resolved to elude the plots of the Moors; and accordingly, before the
dawn, he set out for Pandarene, in hope to get aboard his fleet by some
of the boats which he had ordered to hover about the shore.

But the Moors were vigilant. His escape was immediately known, and the
catual, by the king's order, pursued and brought him back by force. The
catual, however (for it was necessary for their schemes to have the
ships in their power), behaved with politeness to the admiral, and
promised to use all his interest in his behalf.

The eagerness of the Moors now contributed to the safety of Gama. Their
principal merchants were admitted to a formal audience, when one of
their orators accused the Portuguese as a nation of faithless
plunderers: Gama, he said, was an exiled pirate, who had marked his
course with blood and depredation. If he were not a pirate, still there
was no excuse for giving such warlike foreigners any footing in a
country already supplied with all that nature and commerce could give.
He expatiated on the great services which the Moorish traders had
rendered to Calicut; and ended with a threat, that all the Moors would
leave the zamorim's ports and find some other settlement, if he
permitted these foreigners any share in the commerce of his dominions.

However staggered with these arguments and threats, the zamorim was not
blind to the self-interest and malice of the Moors.