He sailed from Malacca with this armament about the end of November 1571, and soon discovered the formidable fleet of the enemy in the river Fermoso.  Giving the command of his own ship to Emanuel Ferreyra, Tristam Vaz de Vega went sword in hand into a galliot, to encourage his men to behave valiantly by exposing himself to the brunt of battle along with them.  On the signal being given by a furious discharge of cannon, Tristan instantly boarded the admiral ship of the enemy, making great havock in her crew of 200 men and even carried away her ensign.  Ferdinand Perez with only 13 men in a small vessel took a galley of the enemy.  Ferdinand de Lemos ran down and sunk one of the enemies ships.  Francisco de Lima having taken another set her on fire, that he might be at liberty to continue the fight.  Emanuel Ferreyra sank three vessels, unrigged several others, and slew great numbers of the enemy.  In short, every one fought admirably, and the whole hostile fleet fled, except four gallies and seven smaller vessels that were burnt or sunk.  Seven hundred of the enemy were taken or slain, with the loss only of five men on the side of the victors.  The Portuguese ships waited three days in the river to see if the enemy would return, and then carried the joyful news to Malacca, where it could hardly be believed[382].

[Footnote 382:  Though not mentioned by De Faria, the king of Acheen appears to Jave raised the siege of Malacca after this naval victory.—­E.]

Sometime in the year 1578, four ships arrived at Goa from Portugal, under the command of Francisco de Sousa, who immediately on landing went to the archbishop Don Gaspar, to whom he delivered a packet from the king.  The royal orders contained in this packet were read by a cryer in the archiepiscopal church, and announced that Don Antonio de Noronha was deposed from the dignity of viceroy, to whom Antonio Moniz Barreto was immediately to succeed with the title of governor.  By another order, Gonzalo Pereyra was appointed to the government of Malacca, in default of whom Don Leonis Pereyra was substituted, and accordingly succeeded as the other was dead.

Advice was now brought to Goa that Malacca was again in danger, as the king of Acheen was before it a second time, assisted by the queen of Japara.  On this intelligence, Moniz desired Leonis Pereyra to set out for his government, and Leonis demanded of him to be supplied with the same force which Moniz had formerly required from Noronha; yet Moniz, without considering what he had himself wrote on that subject to the king, and that India was now free from danger, refused his request.  Leonis, to leave the new governor no excuse for his conduct, would even have been satisfied with a much smaller force than that formerly required by Moniz, but even that was refused him, and he went away to Portugal refusing to assume the government of Malacca.  About the end of this year 1573, orders came from Portugal for the trial and execution of Don George de Castro for surrendering Chale to the zamorin.  He was accordingly beheaded publicly:  Yet in the year following a commission was sent out from Portugal for employing him in another command.