_ 460 _ seems that the intention was that the part in Suez was not to concern itself with anything but the war with India. The Pasha being so experienced on that coast as I have already written in another letter, he will decide to deploy fifteen or twenty ships, not being able to inflict more losses, which he does with his customary diligence and bravery when employing more force than have been revealed. When this fleet will set sail, these letters do not say. But it is to be presumed that it will do so this summer and will be able to carry out the intentions which I have already described in an earlier letter of joining force with the people from Batera, as Matias also says in this letter. The other letter to which he refers will arrive, and we shall know more details. A certain André Ribeiro from Setúbal is staying here in my house. He served under Antonio Silveira of Diu and was a prisoner with João de Lisboa. He fled a small galley from Alexandria, in Tripoli, Syria. He escaped by hiding in woods on land, and from there, with the help of some local Christians, came to Cyprus and on to Venice. He is sure that this year, or at the latest next, the fleet will set sail, in any case from Suez, and as he knows India well, he thinks that it will do great damage. From Matias Bicudo’s letter Your Highness will learn what he says about the Portuguese prisoners who are
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