The Mussulmen placed obstacles in the way of the sale of the merchandise by depreciating its value; Gama sent his agent Diaz to the Zamorin to complain of the perfidy of the Moors and of the bad treatment to which he had been subjected, requesting at the same time permission to move his place of sale to Calicut, where he hoped that the goods would be more easily disposed of. This request was favourably received, and friendly relations were maintained, in spite of the Moorish intrigues, until the 10th of August, 1498. On that day Diaz went to announce Gama's impending departure to the king, reminding him of his promise to send an embassy to Portugal, and asking him to allow Gama a specimen of each of the productions of the country. These were to be paid for on the first sale of goods which should take place after the departure of the fleet, it being intended that the employes of the factory should remain at Calicut during Gama's absence. The Zamorin, instigated by the Arab traders, not only refused to execute his promise, but demanded the payment of 600 _seraphins_ as customs' duty, ordering at the same time the seizure of the merchandise, and making prisoners of the men employed in the factory. Such an outrage, such contempt for the rights of nations, called for prompt vengeance, but Gama understood the art of dissimulation; however, on receiving a visit on board from some rich merchants, he detained them, and sent to the Zamorin to demand an exchange of prisoners. The king's reply not being sent within the time specified by the admiral, the latter set sail and anchored at the distance of sixteen miles from Calicut. After another fruitless attack by the Hindoos, the two agents returned on board, and a portion of the hostages whom Gama had secured were given up. Diaz brought back with him a curious letter from the Zamorin to the King of Portugal. It was written upon a palm leaf, and shall be quoted in all its strange laconicism, so different from the usual grandiloquence of the oriental style:-- "Vasco da Gama, a noble of thy palace, is come into my country which I have permitted. In my kingdom there is much cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, with many precious stones, and what I desire from thy country is gold, silver, coral, and scarlet. Adieu." On the morrow, Moucaida the Moor of Tunis who had served as interpreter to the Portuguese, and had been a great assistance to them in their negotiations with the Zamorin, came to seek an asylum on board the ships. The merchandise had not been brought back on the appointed day, and the Capitam mor now resolved to carry away with him the men whom he had kept as hostages, but the fleet was becalmed at several miles distance from Calicut, and was attacked by twenty armed boats, which were with difficulty kept at a distance by the artillery, until they were forced by a violent storm to take shelter under the coast.