stands as St. Francis church in Kochi). Brief Peace with Calicut October, 1503 - Setting out from East Africa by himself, Afonso de Albuquerque, captain-major of the 5th Armada, crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in Cochin (just in the nick of time - as the monsoon was on the point of reversing.) Hearing of the events that had occurred in the past month, Afonso immediately assumed command from his cousin, Francisco, and oversaw the finalization of the construction of Fort Sant'Iago and the arrangements with the Trimumpara Raja of Cochin. The new priority taken up by Afonso de Albuquerque was the preparation of the return fleet - that is, loading up spices. The siege of Cochin had disrupted the spice markets, and the Zamorin of Calicut had used his authority in the Kerala hinterlands to cut off the supply of pepper to the Portuguese-allied cities of Cochin and Cannanore. Nonetheless, attracted by profit, pepper ships from the Kerala backwaters continued arriving in Cochin. It is at this point that peace feelers were sent through the backchannels between the Zamorin and the Portuguese captain Francisco de Albuquerque. Some Portuguese chroniclers assert it was initiated by the Zamorin, alarmed at the erection of the fort and frustrated by his apparent inability to shut down the pepper supply to Cochin. On the other hand, the chroniclers also report difficulties in finding enough spice supplies to load up the ships, and so Albuquerque may have opened up negotiations in an effort to have the pepper blockade relaxed so they could load up their ships and maybe even secure a modicum of peace for the Portuguese factories after the armada leaves. No matter who initiated it, the peace terms were soon agreed upon in mid-December 1503: the Zamorin is to deliver 1500 bahars of pepper as compensation for the Portuguese factory in Calicut, to expel the Arab merchants from Calicut (some say only shutting out the Arab merchants for the duration of the armada's stay), to make peace with the Trimumpara Raja of Cochin and, most difficult for the Zamorin, to hand over the two Italian engineers who had been helping the Calicut army with cannon. The first installment of the Zamorin's pepper payment was picked up at Cranganore by Duarte Pacheco Pereira without a hitch. But when the Portuguese return to Cranganore to pick up the second installment, a skirmish broke out aboard