76 Dabhol Going further along the coast, past Mandaba and towards India, one comes to a beautiful river at the mouth of which stands a large town of Mouros and gentiles belonging to the kingdom of Deccan, called Dabhol. And there is a bastion at the mouth of the river with plenty of artillery to defend it. It has a good harbour which attracts Mouros ships from many places, namely, Mecca; Aden, and Hormuz, which bring a lot of horses here, and from Cambay, Diu and Malabar, which trade all manner of merchandise here with the many respectable local merchants, who are very wealthy, and both Mouros and gentiles. A large amount of copper is dispatched from here to the interior and a lot of quicksilver and vermillion. Many cloths are sent downriver from the interior to be loaded on to the ships, along with a lot of wheat; grains; chickpeas and many other vegetables. The customs-house brings in a lot of money, collected by the people the king has stationed here for this purpose. It is a beautiful and well-built town, with thatched houses and many beautiful mosques upstream, on both banks of the river, where there are a number of lovely places; the land is fully cultivated, rich and fertile, everything grows here and all livestock can be raised. Our Lord and King’sfleet captained by Dom Francisco d’Almeida, who was Viceroy of India at the time, came here. When his men went ashore, the Mouros defended their territory and fought hard against them. Many Mouros and gentiles died and the place was captured by force; it was heavily damaged, with everything having been burned and destroyed, and they cut the moorings of the many vessels in the river. The people who escaped this destruction rebuilt the city and now it is inhabited and as prosperous as it used to be and wealthy. They do as much harm as they can to our people.
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