_ 462 _ Viceroy of Sicily has given him the responsibility of acting consul of the Portuguese people, including the protection of ships which come there from Portugal. He does this with great care and attention; he informs me of everything, and I declare to Your Highness that he is an essential as can be imagined in these activities. In order to obtain all the news from Cairo and Alexandria through him, and to exercise authority, he wishes to be given the title of Consul of the Potuguese Nation throughout the island of Sicily. I beg Your Highness to write him a letter on just this subject; I wish Your Highness to be assured that this man be a great official for the purposes I set out and will be of much importance to the ambassadors residing here. For this reason, there should be no delay in acceding to his request. May Our Lord preserve and increase Your Highness’s life and royal estate, in His service, Rome 22nd January 1561. It is essential that the ships leaving this year for India, with the help of God, should be warned that this new captain of Suez may be waiting for them, as he has great experience of the Malindi Coast. The prisoners at present in my house say they heard Turks in Cairo from time to time
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