ABSTRACT
Afonso Dalboquerque was just on the point of sailing with all his ships in order, when two Moors came down close by our fortress, and began to make signals with a flag; and at sight of them he sent Aires de Sousa, João Estão, and Gaspar Rodriguez, the interpreter, to land, to see what they wanted. The Moors told them to say to the chief captain that the king was very desirous of retaining his friendship, and would do whatever he desired; but as for the four men, he could not return them to him, for they had now become his brothers. Afonso Dalboquerque, knowing that all this proceeded from some trickery and artfulness of Cogeatar, who would have discovered the diminution of the fleet by this time, replied that not once but often he had sent him word that he would make no arrangement with him, without he first of all delivered up to him his men; and now he would do so with worse will, since they had been made to abjure the faith of Jesus Christ in the mosques of Mahomet; but if he were to waive this demand, the king, his lord, would order his head to be cut off as soon as he arrived in Portugal; yet he would promise him (if our Lord only gave him a little longer life) that he would very quickly deprive him of the government of the kingdom of Ormuz, and would 198finish the fortress, which he now left only begun, and then he would requite him doubly for all the loss and damage which his fleet had received. He ordered also João Estão to notify all this to him in a formal manner, and prepare a public instrument containing an account of all that had happened up to that hour.
