had given the alarm; on which Antonio found that he had erred in not bringing away that old man as he was advised.  He departed therefore from the island, much dissatisfied at having missed the acquisition of so much treasure by his own fault.  After sailing a month, there arose so great a storm on the 5th of August, that his galliot was swallowed up.  The other galliot perished a few days afterwards, and only fourteen of the crew escaped.  Thus perished the brave Antonio de Faria; a just judgment, doubtless, for the sacrilegious robbery he intended to have committed.

No less unfortunate was the end of the city of Liampo, where Antonio had been so nobly received, falling a sacrifice to the base and insatiable avarice of its inhabitants.  Lancelot Pereyra, judge of that city, having lost a thousand ducats by some Chinese, went out with a body of troops to rob and plunder others in satisfaction of the debt.  This unadvised and barbarous procedure brought the governor of the province against the city with 80,000 men, and in four hours burnt it to the ground, together with 80 ships that were in the port.  Twelve thousand men were slain, among whom were 1000 Portuguese, and three millions of gold were lost.  Thus scarce any thing was left of Liampo but the name; and thus what the Portuguese gained by their valour was lost by their covetousness. Liampo had above three thousand catholic inhabitants, almost the half of whom were Portuguese.  Those who survived this cruel execution, obtained leave in 1547, by great presents, to settle in the province of Chincheo, in a village which began to flourish in consequence of a rich trade, but it came to the same end with the other.

SECTION III.

Transactions during the Government of Martin Alfonso de Sousa, from 1542 to 1543.

In the year 1542, but whether under the government of De Gama or De Sousa is uncertain, Antonio de Mota, Francisco Zeymoto, and Antonio Peixoto, while on a voyage to China, were driven by a storm among the islands of Nipongi or Nijon, called Gipon by the Chinese, and known in Europe by the name of Japan.  They were well received in one of these islands, of which they had the honour to be the first discoverers, though accidentally.  These islands of Japan are far to the eastward of all India, being even beyond China, and lie between the latitudes of 30 deg. and 40 deg.  N[360].  These islands are numerous, the principal and largest island being that peculiarly called Niphon, Nifon, Nipongi, or Japan, which gives name to the group, and in which is the city of Meaco the imperial residence.  According to the natives this principal island is 366 leagues in length, but by our computation only 266[361].  The chief islands around the large one, are Cikoko, Toksosi, Sando, Sisime Bacasa, Vuoki, Taquixima,