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shown great restlessness under the restraint imposed upon him by Dalboquerque, and at last, defying the viceroy, he actually set sail for Malacca on his own account. Dalboquerque, however, succeeded in recalling him, and as a punishment for his insubordination sent him back to Portugal in disgrace. Accordingly the task of subduing the Sultan of Malacca now fell to Dalboquerque's lot without the assistance of the men actually appointed by the King of Portugal for that purpose, and the viceroy set about its accomplishment in his own thorough fashion.

The lawlessness which characterised the proceedings of the Portuguese at this period is well exemplified by the first incident recorded by the author of the Commentaries as having occurred during the voyage to Malacca. "When they had got as far as Ceilao (Ceylon)," he tells us, "they caught sight of a ship. Alfonso Dalboquerque gave orders to chase her, and they took her, and he was very glad to find that it belonged to the Guzerates, as he felt his voyage would now be carried out safely, for the Guzerates understand the navigation of those parts much more thoroughly than any other nations, on account of the great commerce they carry on in those places." Here we have given to us an instance of the acts of unprovoked piracy which the Portuguese, from the moment of their arrival in the East, were accustomed to commit as a matter of course; and if some excuse be found in the fact that pilots were needed, no similar justification can be alleged for the capture of four other Guzerati vessels which Dalboquerque chased and took