The power of the Portuguese in the East was irrecoverably broken, and their possessions were falling one after another into stronger hands, but the individual who was most affected by the change could not, or did not, realise the extent of his loss. That individual was Philippe, the third of Spain, the second of Portugal, who among his numerous titles still retained that of Lord of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India. Perhaps he did not know of all the disasters that had overtaken his subjects, for he heard nothing except through the ears of the duke of Lerma, and that all powerful favourite was not the man to point out that his empire was crumbling away, or to suggest any efficient means of preserving what still remained of it.

Accordingly in the royal orders to the viceroys of India, which commenced with the phrase “I the king,” instructions were given in as lofty language as if Philippe was still really lord of the East and in receipt of an ample revenue. With regard to the coast of South-Eastern Africa, a hundred and fifty — a little later raised to three hundred — soldiers were to be stationed at Mozambique, the fortifications of Sofala were to be thoroughly repaired and provided with a garrison, forts were to be constructed at the different mouths of the Zambesi to protect the entrances of that river, Tete and Sena were to be made secure, and a fleet of armed vessels was to be kept cruising up and down the coast, so as to make the whole line impregnable.