ount of the season of the
year there be no place where our men and our fleet can be
recruited, I trust in God's mercy that when Malacca is held in
subjection to our dominion by a strong fortress, provided that the
Kings of Portugal appoint thereto those who are well experienced as
governors and managers of the revenues, the taxes of the land will
pay all the expenses which may arise in the administration of the
city; and if the merchants, who are wont to resort
thither--accustomed as they are to live under the tyrannical yoke
of the Malays--experience a taste of our just dealing,
truthfulness, frankness and mildness, and come to know of the
instructions of the King Dom Manoel, our Lord, wherein he commands
that all his subjects in these parts be very well treated, I
venture to affirm that they will all return and take up their abode
in the city again, yea, and build the walls of their houses with
gold; and all these matters which here I lay before you may be
secured to us by this half-turn of the key, which is that we build
a fortress in this city of Malacca and sustain it, and that this
land be brought under the dominion of the Portuguese, and the King
Dom Manoel be styled true King thereof, and therefore I desire you
of your kindness to consider seriously the enterprise that we have
in hand, and not to leave it to fall to the ground.'[2]

[Footnote 2: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 115-119.]

After having made use of some such arguments as {106} these,
Albuquerque ordered a second attack on the city of Malacca. His
success was as complete as it had been on St. James' Day, but the
Portuguese on this occasion, instead of evacuating the place, at once
commenced to build a fortress. The Sultan was driven out of the city,
and was pursued into the interior by an army of 400 Portuguese and
600 Javanese.

The contingent of Javanese soldiers was obtained by an alliance which
Albuquerque made as soon as he was in occupation of Malacca. When the
Sultan fled, the Portuguese General ordered his men to spare the
warehouses and other property of Ninachatu, the Hindu merchant who
has been mentioned as the kindly benefactor of Ruy de Araujo and his
companions in captivity. This leniency caused other Hindus to ask
Albuquerque for his protection. He willingly granted it, and
appointed Ninachatu as superintendent or governor of all the Hindus
in the city. Then an aged Javanese, w