Miguel de Castanhoso

“ Here we found ourselves in great trouble; but our artillery stood us in good stead, for those in charge behaved like valiant men without fear, and fired so rapidly that the horse could never get near us, because the horses feared the fire; still the Moors did us much harm, especially the Turks with their matchlocks. D. Christovão, seeing this, halted the force, ordering us not to fight save with the artillery, with which we did them much hurt; and as one hundred Turks advanced very close to us, D. Christovão sent Manuel da Cunha to attack them with his men, that is, about fifty Portuguese. ”

“ He obeyed, and the engagement waxed so fierce that the Turks seized the banner and slew the ensign and three other Portuguese; they also killed and wounded many of the Turks; Manuel da Cunha retired, wounded in the leg with a matchlock bullet. All this while D. Christovão was encouraging our people, always present where danger was greatest, many of ours being wounded ”

“ The dead on the battle-field were examined, to bury the Portuguese who had fallen. There were eleven, and among them Luiz Rodriguez de Carvalho, with a musket-ball through the head, the first man killed, Lopo da Cunha fidalgo, and a foster-brother of D. Christovão; there were [48] over fifty wounded, chiefly by matchlock bullets; but the enemy paid heavily, for the field was full of them; among them the Abyssinians recognised four of the principal Captains of the King of Zeila; there lay dead on the field forty horses and thirty Turks. After we had buried the dead we wanted to rest ”