rcia de Sousa, who
both distinguished themselves by their daring valour. Finding it
impossible to breach the walls from the sea Albuquerque then set out
to explore the coasts of Arabia and Abyssinia.

The latter, as a Christian empire, and the seat of that mythical
monarch, Prester John, was a subject of great interest to the
Christians of Europe. It has been said that John II of Portugal sent
one of his equerries Joao Peres de Covilhao to Abyssinia, where he
had become a person of influence and eventually {128} died.
Ambassadors had also been sent to that country by way of Melinda in
Vasco da Gama's second voyage to the East, and had been favourably
received by David, the then Emperor of Abyssinia.

The existence Of such a Christian empire interested most Europeans
only on account of its religion, but Albuquerque looked on it from a
political aspect. He hoped to make use of the Abyssinians to attack
Egypt from the South and overthrow the Muhammadan dynasty reigning
there. In case this could not be accomplished, he formed a scheme by
which the waters of the Nile should be diverted, so as to run through
Abyssinia to the Red Sea, and thus destroy the fertility of Egypt. He
even went so far in pursuance of his idea as to request the King of
Portugal to send him experienced miners from the island of Madeira,
who were accustomed to dig through rocks. Another plan he formed was
to send a detachment to Medina to carry off the body of Muhammad. But
he felt his present voyage to be rather one of exploration, and so,
after sailing about throughout the summer of 1513, he left the Red
Sea in the month of August for India. This cruise was one of great
importance to the Portuguese, and a knowledge of the coasts, and of
the navigation of the Red Sea was obtained, which proved in after
years to be very useful. Before departing Albuquerque burnt many of
the ships which were moored in the harbour of Aden, and he promised
to return speedily and conquer the city.

On leaving the coast of Arabia, Albuquerque sailed {129} direct to
Diu. The situation of affairs in Gujarat had somewhat altered. Mahmud
Shah Begara had always been willing that the Portuguese should build
a fortress there, and his willingness may be attributed to the fact
that Malik Ayaz, the Nawab of Diu, had become practically independent
of him. This Muhammadan ruler had been the declared enemy of the
Portuguese ever since the days of the first Viceroy, Dom Francisco de
A