heavier calamities on the city unless the terms were performed with good faith.  Thus, with the loss only of ten men on the side of the Portuguese, most of the numerous vessels belonging to the enemy, full of various rich commodities, were taken, burnt, sunk, or torn to pieces, and above seventeen hundred of the Moors were slain, numbers of whose bodies were seen floating in the harbour.  Many of these were seen to have ornaments of gold, which the Portuguese anxiously sought after, and on this occasion it was noticed that several of the enemy had been slain by their own arrows, none being used by the Portuguese.

Khojah Attar, dismayed by the prodigious injury sustained in the conflict, and afraid of still heavier calamities, called a council of the chief officers of the kingdom to deliberate on what was best to be done, when it was agreed to submit for the present to the demands of Albuquerque; after which articles of pacification were drawn up and sworn to between the parties.  The two principal articles were, that the king of Ormuz submitted to pay a tribute to the king of Portugal of 15,000 Xerephines yearly[101], and that ground should be allowed for the Portuguese on which to build a fort.  The fort was accordingly immediately commenced, and considerable progress was made in its construction in a few days.  On purpose to avoid the payment of the tribute, Khojah Attar dressed up a pretended embassy from the king of Persia demanding payment of the usual tribute, and required that Albuquerque should give them an answer, as the king of Ormuz was now subject to the crown of Portugal.  Albuquerque penetrated into this design, and desired Attar to send some one to him to receive the answer.  The pretended Persian ambassador accordingly waited upon him, to whom he gave some spears and bullets, saying such was the coin in which the tribute should be paid in future.  Finding this contrivance fail, Attar endeavoured to corrupt some of the Portuguese, and actually prevailed on five seamen to desert, one of whom had been bred a founder, who cast some cannon like those belonging to the Portuguese.  Being informed by these deserters that Albuquerque had only about 450 soldiers, Attar began to pick up fresh courage, and entered into contrivances for breaking the peace, pretending at the same time to lay the blame on Albuquerque, and refused to deliver up the deserters.

[Footnote 101:  A Xerephine being worth about half a crown, this tribute amounted to about L. 1875 sterling.—­Astl.  I. 66. a.—­According to Purchas a Xerephine is worth 3s. 9d; so that the yearly tribute in the text is equal to L. 2812 20s. sterling.—­E.]