_ 372 _ These were Gaspar Milheiro, Francisco Callado, the chaplain, and their servants. When I saw that the ambassador was about to leave, I determined to accompany him so that I could achieve my great desire to see the world and also because I felt it time to move on, since I was in fear of a man with whom I had an argument and who was too rich for the peace of mind of one who had reason to fear him. And so, we left Ormuz for the mainland one Sunday, the first of September at ten o'clock in a royal galley to the sound of many trumpets, and disembarked at a place called Bandel, which means 'port' in our language. It has straw houses and is inhabited by poor people kept there by the merchants of Ormuz, for whom they pick dates, which grow abundantly there. The ambassador remained there for some days, taking horses for his men, and camels to carry the provisions for the journey. When we left that place, we went some five or six leagues along the coast to the northwest through land which was uninhabited. We reached some water wells where we decided to rest for the night. There were no houses apart from a few made of palm leaves. The Moors, who were in our company, said that that it was five frazangues, which in the Persian language means leagues, from Bandel, which we had left, to this land of palm trees.
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