crippled, was yet capable of inflicting nasty wounds. From Goa might sally forth galleons which would take at a serious disadvantage ships of either English or Dutch origin sailing up or down the coast. A defensive arrangement by which the vessels of the two nations would render mutual assistance was, therefore, most useful to both; and it became more serviceable in the period following the capture of Ormuz, when the Portuguese, rendered desperate by the losses they had sustained, sought to retrieve their laurels under the direction of Ruy Freire, who had managed to escape from English custody at Surat, and had made his way to Goa within a short period after the return of the triumphant English fleet from the Persian Gulf.
Towards the close of 1626, stirred to vigorous action by the reprisals of the Portuguese upon English and Dutch shipping, a combined fleet, consisting of six English and eight Dutch ships, sailed out of Swally roads to deal, if possible, a crushing blow at the enemy. The immediate objective of the squadron was Bombay, where it was known that the principal Portuguese fleet had for some time been anchored. At this period where is now a proud city—"the gate of India"—was merely a squalid Portuguese settlement, with a population of 10,000, mostly poor Mohammedans and low-caste Indians, who obtained a precarious living by fishing and rice cultivation. The close proximity of the place to Goa probably accounts for the comparative insignificance of the Portuguese town. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that with their keen instinct for a good strategic position on a sea-board the Portuguese should have allowed the superb harbour of Bombay to drop into a quite inferior place in their chain of settlements in the East.
In the English mind before this period there had dawned
